Trying Circumstances
by SiriuslyRonwithme
Summary: Draco and Hermione are Head Boy and Girl in their final year at Hogwarts. Will the stress of having to work together bring them closer, or will they tear themselves apart? DRAMIONE! Rated M for mature stuff later.
1. I Thought I Smelled a Ferret

With one last hug of her parents, Hermione bid them goodbye and walked towards the train that awaited her. The scarlet engine gleamed, brilliant as ever, in the morning sunlight. As she climbed aboard, she couldn't help but feel proud of the bronze pin that was clipped to her sweater. She had been made Head Girl this year, to no one's surprise. Still, the glory of it allowed her to hold her head a little higher than usual.

Hermione made her way down the central aisle, glancing into each compartment for her best friends. She finally located them, seated almost in the back of the train. Sliding the door open, Hermione was immediately greeted by the smiles of Harry and Ron. "Head Girl is going to sit with us? This is truly an honor," Harry laughed as she slid her bag onto the top rack and sat beside Ron.

Hermione rolled her eyes at the comment. "I was running a little late! In my excitement, I nearly forgot my toothbrush!"

Ron laughed. "Oh no, imagine the horror of forgetting such an important item!" he exclaimed with sarcasm.

Hermione wrinkled her nose. "I happen to think hygiene is very important, Ronald."

He rolled his eyes with a smile. "You know I'm just playing with you," he said, leaning over to peck her on the cheek. Hermione blushed, but mostly because Harry was watching. Hermione and Ron had become an official couple over the summer, but she was still not that used to public displays of affection.

"Get a room," he commented, shaking his head and smiling. Hermione imagined that he was probably thinking about doing the very same to Ginny when she appeared.

"Well, I need to head off to the front and find out about my Head Girl duties," Hermione announced, standing once more. "I'm sure I'll be back soon."

With that, she waved them goodbye and set off importantly towards the head of the train. She wondered who could have been made Head Boy. It was probably a Ravenclaw, since she couldn't think of anyone in her Gryffindor year who would be up for the position… Harry could have been an option, since almost every student respected him by now, but in all honesty, Harry was not the sharpest tool in the shed. Hermione mentally added that she loved him anyway and he was an amazing and true friend. Afterall, there were more important qualities for a person to have than just brains.

As she was mentally going through all of the possible Ravenclaws in her head, Hermione arrived at the first compartment on the train. It was empty, save one person. And that was the one person she had dreaded seeing inside the compartment above all others. _He's not supposed to be in there, he doesn't know it's the prefect and head compartment,_ she reasoned as she slid the door open to tell him off.

Draco Malfoy's eyes had been following the moving countryside outside his window when he heard the compartment door slide open. His expression quickly changed to a sneer when he saw that it was the scummiest of the scum: the mudblood Granger who he hated to even look at. "You're in the wrong compartment, Malfoy," she said coldly.

His brow furrowed angrily. How dare she tell him off like that? "Pretty sure you are, Mudblood. This is the Head compartment."

Hermione's eyes caught sight of a gleaming bronze badge, which he had pinned to the front of his Slytherin robes. Her eyes widened and her heart dropped. "You've got to be joking," she muttered disdainfully.

He scoffed, reclining once more against the compartment seat. He glared meanly at her and her shining badge. "I'm pretty sure you're the joke, Granger. Giving a filthy piece of nothing like you a Head Girl badge? This place is already a shit show as it is."

"At least I earned mine," she retorted hotly. "You probably had to have your Daddy buy yours."

At this Malfoy stood quickly and whipped out his wand, aiming it at her chest. It was lucky that at that very moment, Professor McGonagall Apparated into the compartment. Malfoy quickly stowed his wand as McGonagall gave him the evil eye.

"Ms. Granger and Mr. Malfoy," she began, saying his name a little more forcefully than hers. "Congratulations on being awarded Head Girl and Boy. There will be a meeting tonight in my office to discuss the finer points of your duties, but I'm sure you are both well aware of what will and _won't_ -" she eyed Malfoy- "be considered acceptable behavior from such leaders of our school. You two will be sharing a dormitory on the East side of the fourth floor, which is concealed by the statute of Gapok the Gallant. The password is 'ruby locks' and that is to be kept between you and not shared. Do you have any questions?"

Perhaps it was just the mixture of shock and horror that had taken over her at the thought of having to share a common room with Malfoy, but for once Hermione did not take the opportunity to ask the hundreds of questions she had swirling around her head. Eyeing Malfoy, she saw that he seemed to be having a similar reaction, but he knew better than to start an uproar in front of a teacher. Seeing that neither of them were going to say anything, McGonagall bid them farewell and Disapparated from the compartment.

Malfoy turned on his heels and glared down into the Gryffindor's face. Seeing her horrified expression, however, sent a smug smirk crawling back to his lips. "What's the matter Granger, Head Girl not quite the job you thought?" With that, he shoved past her and down the train aisle towards a new compartment. Hermione remained there, running through all the terrible, possible scenarios that could result from sharing a dorm with the Slytherin. His last comment, however, had given her a newfound confidence. She wasn't going to let Malfoy take away the glory of the job she had always dreamed of, and she certainly wasn't going to submit to his mind games.

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Hey guys! More to come soon. Please leave a review on what I can improve or what you liked! -E


	2. A Plan or Two

The opening feast did not disappoint, as usual. Anything that Hermione dreamed of was there on the table: pies to puddings, lamb chops to steak. The meal was concluded with the customary speech by the headmaster, and Dumbledore managed to slip in a few jokes he had heard over the summer before he caught McGonagall's eye and knew it was time to end it. Hermione laughed to herself. Professor McGonagall may have been her head of house, but she sure kept the Headmaster in check.

After Dumbledore had left the podium, the students in the room rose to go to their dormitories. The new students looked a mixture of excited and terrified as they were led away by prefects. Hermione could remember herself in that position not so long ago. Where had the years gone?

Rising, she bid farewell to her friends and headed towards McGonagall's office. Directly ahead of her, she watched Draco Malfoy going the same direction. When they arrived at the office, he didn't bother holding the door behind him, even though he knew that she was behind him. McGonagall was already seated at her desk, waiting for them. Instead of taking one of the empty seats that faced her, Draco leaned against the wall. When Hermione's eyes met his, he narrowed them. Turning away without reaction, she took a seat.

McGonagall clasped her hands in front of her. "After much discussion, the staff has decided that this year unity must be enforced. We have seen too much hatred and fighting between students over the years. This year, as Heads of Hogwarts, you will be working with the prefects to mend the relationships between the houses. You are to meet with them once every other week and discuss problems that arise and ways to bring the school together. Please do keep me updated on your plans."

These words caused Hermione's mind to race with new ideas. Unity… this was going to be quite the challenge.

"The first meeting will take place this Thursday in my classroom. As Heads, you must also set up schedules for the prefects to patrol the halls. You may take and give points to students, but I encourage you to respect this power." McGonagall looked at Hermione, then at Draco. "Do you have any questions?"

Hermione shook her head, and Draco remained motionless against the wall. He glanced over at Hermione and saw that she was deep in thought. He was glad that for once she had chosen not to ask millions of stupid questions. The two were dismissed, but Hermione watched as Draco went a different direction as he left the office. Apparently, he wasn't heading straight to their new common room.

Draco didn't even glance over his shoulder to see Hermione's confused expression as he headed the wrong direction. He didn't want to spend any extra time with the filthy girl, so he would go up to the common room later. Even though he now had his own quarters, Draco headed down to the Slytherin common room in the dungeons. He was so well know by the knight that guarded the entrance that he didn't even have to utter a password. In the common room he found his friend, Blaise Zabini, as well as his two goonies Crabbe and Goyle.

"Ah, there he is, the bastard!" called Blaise. "Draco Malfoy, the high and mighty!"

Draco smirked as took a chair near his friend. "You won't believe my horrid luck." His face turned to a scowl. "The Mudblood is Head Girl."

Blaise laughed out loud, knowing that if anyone else had behaved that way they would have been hexed by Draco. "Oh, she won't last long."

Draco did his best to hide his surprise at the comment. "And why's that?"

Blaise looked at him incredulously. "Do you really think she'll be up for months of torture by you? I'll bet 15 Galleons you can get rid of her in a week."

"15 Galleons is a child's wager," Draco remarked with scorn. His friend's words, however, got him thinking. Perhaps he was right. All he had to do was make Granger's life a living hell and she would surely resign the position. Perhaps then he could have a slightly less annoying Ravenclaw as Head Girl or something.

Blaise picked up on the fact that Draco was seriously considering his words. "I'm right, ain't I? If anyone can tear down the Gryffindor princess, it's you, mate." Crabbe and Goyle nodded in quick agreement, though the probably didn't have half a clue what was going on.

Draco cocked his left eyebrow. "Of course you're right. I can do it with ease."

Blaise reached over and clapped his friend on the back, an evil grin on his face. "If you need anyone to drag her through the mud when she's down, I'm your mate."

The Slytherin Prince nodded microscopically. On days where his head was clouded, he was glad to have a friend like Blaise to clear it right up. When he had found out that Granger was the Head Girl, he was sure that the year would be a living hell for him. Now, however, he was quite sure that he wouldn't be the one living in hell.

~EAST SIDE OF THE FOURTH FLOOR~

Hermione approached the statue of Gapok the Gallant and spoke the password that McGonagall had told her. The statue stepped to the side and allowed her to walk into the new common room. It was just like she had imagined. There were several portraits on the walls of famous witches and wizards that she recognized, two deep red couches beside a magnificent stone fireplace, and two entrances to staircases that would bring her up to the dorm rooms. Assuming that her dorm would be on the right side, she climbed the stone staircase and was let out on a ledge that overlooked the common room. Up here, she could see that both staircases lead to the same ledge and the doors to their dorms were spaced out on the same wall.

Opening the door closest to her, Hermione discovered that it was indeed her room. It contained a single four poster bed, next to which lay her trunk. There was a desk in the corner as well as a bureau for her clothes along one wall. Finally, the room had a marvelous window that looked out on the black lake in front of the castle. Looking around the room, she spotted another door that she supposed would lead her to the bathroom.

When she opened the door, she immediately noticed something that made her heart drop. Directly across from her door to the bathroom was another exactly like it, meaning that she would have to be sharing the bathroom with _Malfoy_. She shivered at the thought and hoped that he hated her enough to not perv on her. _That_ would be horrifying.

Re-entering her room, Hermione decided to head off to sleep so that she could get an early start the next morning. It would be the first day of classes and the first day with her powers as Head Girl. Reaffirming would she had told herself earlier, she would not be letting Malfoy get to her this year. She was sure that he would like nothing better than to make her life a living hell, but she would remain strong. No one could take down Hermione Granger.

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Hello! I know this wasn't a whole lot but there is more on the way. I've read a lot of Dramione fanfics on here and decided that it was time I write my own. Hope you guys like it so far! -E


	3. A Nasty Surprise

Draco awoke bright and early, ready to begin irritating the mudblood immediately. Getting dressed quickly and efficiently into his robes, he wondered if she was already awake. He was answered by the sound of the shower turning on in the bathroom next door. He almost groaned with the realization that they were sharing a bathroom before he realized that he could use that to his advantage. With an evil smile, Draco approached the door and tried to turn the knob. Of course, the witch had locked it. With a simple 'Alohomora,' he entered the bathroom.

He could hear the girl scramble to grab a towel behind him as he walked to stand in front of the sink and mirror. "GET OUT, YOU PERVERT!" she screamed at him. He didn't even glance in her direction as he began to apply his sleek hair gel.

"As if," he scoffed, staring intently at his platinum blonde hair. "You're not much to look at, Mudblood. Not worth my time."

"I locked the door for a reason!" she cried, clutching the towel tight to her body.

"You've forgotten that this is also my bathroom, stupid girl," he replied in a cold voice. He scowled, as the steam from the shower water was beginning to fog up the mirror. He threw her a look over his shoulder, looking at her for the first time. Though her body was covered by the towel, the tops of her breasts rose over the edge of the cotton that she was wrapped so tightly in. They were bigger than her usual school robes would have revealed, he noted in the back of his mind. "Turn the freaking water off, it's messing up the mirror," he demanded with a sneer. A big part of him took pleasure in watching her squirm with discomfort in the corner.

With a huff, she and her towel garment left the bathroom, leaving the water running. Draco smiled to himself with pride and went to turn it off himself before finishing his hair. Getting under her skin was going to be too easy. It wasn't like she could report this to anyone; he hadn't tried to look at her naked _and_ he had equal rights to the bathroom. She was just going to have to deal with it.

He headed down to the Great Hall for breakfast without another sighting of Granger. So far, all was going according to plan.

As he took a seat next to Zabini, Professor Snape approached and ceremoniously handed him his schedule. Glancing at it, he noted with disgust that most of his classes would be shared with the Gryffindors. Why couldn't classes be separated like the houses were? Then, he reasoned that perhaps this would give him even more of an opportunity to get to Granger. He was intelligent, and he sure as hell knew it. Getting ahead of her in everything he could would definitely be key to sending her over the edge.

Blaise noticed his friend's thinking expression. He smirked and nudged Draco. "How's the little plan going?"

Draco grabbed some bacon and a scoop of eggs for his plate. "Let's just say that Granger and I share a bathroom," he said in a low voice, a smug look on his face.

Blaise's eyes grew wide with excitement. "Holy shit, man. They've made it too easy."

"I quite agree," he said triumphantly, taking a bite of a sausage. His eyes trailed across the room to Hermione, who was just now taking her seat. She still looked a bit flustered from their little scene earlier, but she appeared to be playing it off like nothing had happened. As she reached for a spoon to scoop some food onto her plate, he watched the carrot-headed Weasel give her a kiss on the cheek. Draco scrunched up his nose in disgust. He had just found something else to pick on her about- the fact that the best she could do was Weasley.

Breakfast finished and the first bell for class sounded. Grabbing her bag, Hermione stood along with her friends. They had Potions first, which, although it was a terrible way to start the day, wouldn't be half as bad with Harry and Ron. She was suddenly grateful that she had them to help ward off Malfoy.

She hadn't told her friends about the bathroom incident, since she was determined not to give Malfoy any fuel for the fire. If she allowed Harry and Ron to become her body guards, he would only pick on the fact that she couldn't defend herself. And she definitely could.

"Alright! Alright! Settle down!" called Professor Slughorn as he came out of the ingredient storage room. "Today's potion will be independent, so would everyone please set up their stations…" He waved his wand at a stack of books on his desk, which then proceeded to pass themselves out to the students. "Will everyone please turn to page 37!"

Hermione obliged and saw that they wo

* * *

uld be working on a potion with fumes that caused uncontrollable laughter. It was called, appropriately, Gigglestitch. Unpacking and laying out her ingredients, Hermione set to work immediately.

"You'll know you've done it right when it turns a bright yellow!" Slughorn called, walking around the room. "No, Mr. Weasley, you'll want to slice that beetle horizontally…"

Across the room from Hermione, Draco was deep at work. He was determined to finish before Granger, determined to show her up a little. As he sliced and sprinkled ingredients into his cauldron, he remembered a bit of advice Professor Snape had given him about being able to take a shortcut on potions that created emotions by using a snake eye instead of a rat's or frog's. Figuring that laughter and happiness would accurately fit the criteria, he switched out the ingredient. Within no time, his potion was a bright, golden yellow.

Slughorn approached when he saw Draco look up from his cauldron. He eyed the color of the liquid and smiled. "Go on and test it boy," he said quietly. Though he didn't really want to test a potion that make him break out in a fit of laughter, he could feel a certain Gryffindor's eyes on him. He leaned forward and sniffed the heavy fumes, which smelled vaguely like mayonnaise. Suddenly, the prospect of beating Granger and scaring her out of her Head Girl position seemed hysterical. Draco opened his mouth and burst out laughing, doubling over. He placed a hand against his table to steady himself, eyes stinging from the tears that the laughter brought on. All eyes were on him now, especially Granger's.

She had never seen him laugh like that. His laughs were always cruel and cold, biting like frostbite. But this laugh… It was warm and genuine, a sound Hermione never would've guessed could come out of Malfoy. She blinked, clearing her head. Of course, it was only the potion making him laugh like that. He wasn't lighthearted or actually funny in any way.

Slughorn handed Draco a vile to stop the laughter, and he was back to his stone faced self in moments. He shot Hermione a smug look, seeing as he was able to make the potion before she was. She didn't understand how it was even possible… The soaking of the pine needles took at least 10 minutes, not to mention the long process of de-veining the outside of a Mink's heart… glancing at her own potion list, she saw that she still had four steps to go.

How had he beaten her?

Draco could tell that her feathers were ruffled. As Slughorn awarded him with 10 points to Slytherin, he watched as she turned back to her potion with a furrowed brow. He would certainly be teasing her about this later.

The bell sounded after most of the students had finished their potions. Seamus' potion ended up blowing up (surprisingly, he hadn't managed to do that since fourth year), completely covering himself in a green smile as well as the unfortunate Neville Longbottom. Draco spent the entire rest of the class brainstorming ways to get under Hermione's skin, and so he left the class with several fabulous ideas. A couple of the students from the potions class were still looking at him weird because of his laughing fit, but they stopped when he sneered at them.

Next was Charms, which was uneventful since the Slytherins had the class with the Hufflepuffs. Ten minutes into the class, Draco had mastered the spell and spent the rest of the period ignoring Pansy. She was desperately trying to get him to help her or at least speak to her. He had broken up with her several times, even when they technically weren't even in a relationship. But she just kept coming back for more. Everything about Pansy was annoying, but at least he could always count on her to be begging at his feet like the dog she was.

After that was Transfiguration, which was with the Gryffindors. The task they were given was to turn a sparrow into a tortoise, which was especially hard given that birds don't tend to sit still when you're waving wands at them. Draco had only just begun attempting the transformation when he heard McGonagall speaking across the room. "Wonderfully done, Ms. Granger… 15 points…"

Draco spun in his chair and caught a glimpse of Hermione's triumphant expression. Her eyes met his, and she grinned with pride. He simply cocked an eyebrow at her and swiveled back around in his seat. It was so on.

Hermione and Draco spent the rest of the day silently competing in every class they shared. "Blimey, Mione, you're working so fast your hands are gonna fall off," Ron commented in Herbology as they extracted beans from inside the pods of a Pujoff plant. He had looked away from his own plant for too long however, and it took the chance to bite his ear. "OW!" He yelled, wrestling with the plant. Across the table, Hermione heard Draco chuckle. She shot him a look of pure hatred.

"What's so funny, Malfoy?" Harry voiced for her.

"It seems Granger has some competition. Just when I thought Weasel could stoop no lower… He starts messing around with a plant," Draco commented in an amused voice. "What shall the ship name be, then? Rujoff? Punald? Or should I mix Pujoff with Weasel instead?"

"Shut up, Malfoy. You're just jealous because you can't turn a bird into a bloody turtle," Ron butt in.

Draco's eyes narrowed, but he continued his rant. "Personally, I think you're better off. A plant is certainly a step up from a Mudblood," he added.

Ron lunged across the table, but Hermione and Harry managed to catch him by the arms. Professor Sprout looked up from her own plant and yelled at them to quit it before she loosed the Snoofalah Hand Trappers on them. Ron managed to tone his anger down a bit, turning back to his plant with an angry look towards Draco. The Slytherin chuckled. He glanced over at Hermione before turning back to his own plant.

Hermione did the same, pushing Draco's nasty words out of her mind. Of course she was worth more than a plant. She knew he was just trying to get a rise out of them and instigate trouble. But calling her a Mudblood didn't have the same effect on her that it used to- she knew that that sort of prejudice had nothing to do with who she actually was. If Malfoy believed that about her, fine- but he certainly wasn't going to get her to feel that way herself.

Across the table, Draco continued his work on his plant almost disappointed. He had expected Granger to react in someway to being called a Mudblood, to being called less valuable than a plant. But as the conversation ended, he saw no tears in her eyes, only contempt. Damn, maybe it would be harder than he thought to unravel the scum that was Hermione Granger.

But Draco Malfoy did not back away from a challenge. It was only day 1, after all.

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Two updates in one day? I must be really into this story! The best part is probably coming up with names for things, like a Snoofalah Hand Trapper. Please, review and favorite! -E


	4. Two Can Play At That Game

When Draco returned to the common room that night, he found Hermione in front of the fire, sheets of parchment spread out across the floor. He scowled, causing her to glance up at him briefly before turning back to her work. "Studying to try to get ahead of me, Granger?"

"Actually, I'm working on the patrol schedules for the prefects if you'd like to participate in any way," she replied coldly, not looking up at him.

Draco scoffed at the notion. "Help you? As if." He began to climb the stairs towards his room.

"Thank goodness, I thought I'd have to suffer through even more time with your miserable ass," she snarled after him. Draco stopped dead in his tracks. Perhaps working on the schedules was a good idea. After all, the Mudblood preferred if he didn't… And when had he ever obeyed her wishes?

"Actually," he said, ambling back over to her and sliding onto a couch. "Making schedules sounds quite fun."

Hermione rolled her eyes, but mentally patted herself on the back. Sure, she didn't actually want him around, but at least she could trick him into helping her. Two could play at that game, Malfoy.

Throwing him a cold stare, she passed him two sheets of parchment. "Make sure that the Hufflepuff prefect schedules don't overlap with the Ravenclaw's." With that command, she turned back to the other pieces around her and scrawled something on one of them.

Draco was filled with disgust. Granger had the nerve to tell him what to do? Absolutely not. "And why the hell shouldn't it overlap? There needs to be multiple prefects patrolling at once, one person couldn't cover the whole school alone, you idiot."

Hermione rolled her eyes, but didn't look up at him. "The Slytherin prefects and the Ravenclaw's will overlap. I'm not the idiot, you're the one who can't manage a simple transfiguration."

With that comment, Draco leaned forward and threw the schedules to the floor. "And who's the one who's lost her touch in Potions?" He retorted menacingly.

She met his eyes, hers fiercely shining. "At least I can make a potion without cheating."

Draco snarled. How dare she accuse him of cheating? Changing around the ingredients did not qualify as _cheating_! "At least my lover's not off snogging plants!"

The girl gave a humorless laugh. "At least I actually know what love is! You're so cold you can't even feel love!" Their faces were less than half a foot away from each other, causing Draco's gaze to travel instinctively from hers eyes to her lips. For a muggle born, they weren't all that disgusting looking. He would have expected them to be chapped or at least covered in lip gloss like the gross kind that Pansy seemed to like… But no, her lips were smooth and barren. Draco flung away this meaningless detail and reclined on the couch, his expression inexplicably smug.

Hermione was confused. Why did he suddenly look as though he had won the argument?

"You think you're in love with the Weasel? Please."

At this, Hermione's anger returned. "How dare you judge my relationship!"

Suddenly, Draco's face was mere inches from her own. Her anger was mixed with surprise, which she desperately tried to hide from her expression. She resisted the urge to slide backwards and away from him. She had to hold her ground.

"Does he make your heart beat so fast you think it might explode?"

She sat there, utterly dumbfounded.

"When you kiss, do you ache for it to continue forever?"

Hermione swallowed hard, trying to assure herself that Malfoy had no idea what he was talking about.

"Do you want to fuck him until you pass out from exhaustion?"

Her break hitched.

"Do you trust him with your life?"

At this, she moved her face away from his. He was getting dangerously close to her, and it was actually scaring her. He chuckled, seeing this reaction on her face.

"Like I said, Mudblood," he continued in a whisper. "You don't know the first thing about love."

Hermione dared to blink, and he was gone. Draco had gone up to his dormitory without another word, quite pleased with himself. He had actually managed to scare her, something he had honestly never thought he could do. As he got changed into his sleeping clothes, he pushed away a thought from his mind. He wasn't sure where all of that had come from, because he could honestly say that he had never felt that way about anyone. That was the sort of thing that girls would tell him when he was atop them, sending them spiraling into endless orgasms. But did he really believe any of that? Of course not. True love did not exist, only excitement in the spur of a moment.

Yet the thought that he pushed away was the small trickle of hope that one day he might find all of that in a woman. That they might do more than engage or simply excite him. The thought was gone before he even had time to contemplate it.

In the next room over, Hermione laid awake, staring at the top of her four poster bed. She couldn't help but go over Draco's words again and again. Though she was sure that he himself had never experienced love (he couldn't have, could he?), she now began to question her own relationship. Sure, her and Ron told each other they loved each other often and almost without thought. But did he really make her heart race? Not really. Maybe that was because she had known him for so long, maybe the heart racing thing didn't really happen after such a long time.

" _When you kiss, do you ache for it to continue forever?"_

Hermione kept going over this line in her head. Ron's kisses made her blush or smile, but it was more often than not that she was blushing. Had she ever felt that intense desire to snog him endlessly? Though she hated to admit it to herself, she didn't think so. She didn't have much experience, but Ron's kisses were always wet and sloppy.

As for the third line… They had never done it together. Hermione had told Ron that she wasn't ready for that yet. Was that her, trying to keep from admitting that she didn't want that from him?

Hermione stopped herself forcefully, shaking her head to clear it. She needed to stop. She couldn't be doubting her relationship just because it wasn't up to Malfoy's standards. As if Malfoy had ever trusted any partner with his life. He had a new girl every week, if not everyday. All this talk about knowing what love is was rubbish.

Even though she tried everything to persuade her mind otherwise, she still fell asleep with a tiny bit of doubt.

~A WEEK LATER~

Hermione wanted to smother herself with a pillow. All she wanted was to get some work done or even sleep, but Malfoy couldn't allow that. Every night for a week, he brought over a new girl to have extremely noise and _long_ sex with. It was like he had paid them to be extra loud and disturb her.

Groaning loudly into her hands, she had half a mind to go and bang on his door and yell at him to stop. Yet she didn't want him to think that he was actually getting to her. Although he probably suspected that he was; every morning, she looked even more sleep deprived than the night before.

Malfoy hadn't brought up their little conversation about love again. It was almost as if he wanted her to think about it for herself, to decide whether or not she found truth in his words.

At the moment, however, Hermione couldn't take it anymore. She hadn't slept in a week and he had now upped the ante- instead of one girl, he was now doing two at once. Whipping out her wand, she marched down the hall and cast a silencing charm on Draco's door. Sure enough, the noises stopped. She had almost made it back to her room when she heard his door whip open. Glancing behind her, she saw Malfoy step out into the hallway, completely naked and covering his junk with a pillow. His mouth kept opening and closing like he was trying to talk but no sound was coming out.

She simply smiled smugly and cocked an eyebrow at him. She couldn't help but notice the chiseled abs on his exposed chest, how the messy nature of his hair made him look… Well, not disgusting. Maybe even downright handsome.

Sending these thoughts away, Hermione returned to her own room without another glance back. If he was making this a game, she had just been dealt in.

The next morning, Hermione hadn't even woken up yet when there came a pounding on her door. Smiling to herself because she had just experienced the best sleep of her life, she slowly ambled over to the door. Opening it, she took pride in seeing the pissed expression on Draco's face.

"What the fuck, you stupid bitch?! Who do you think you are, putting a silencing spell on me all night?!" He yelled, spit spraying into her face.

Narrowing her eyes, she leaned against her doorframe. "And who do you think you are, sleeping with a different girl every night? Some kind of sex god?"

Draco crossed his arms and cocked an eyebrow. "What can I say? No girl can resist me."

Hermione scoffed, disgusted. "I know one."

With that, she slammed the door in his face.

Scowling, Draco returned to his own room. It was turning into an all out war. And if she wasn't going to give up her title, he would have to switch tactics. Draco Malfoy did not lose.

~THAT AFTERNOON~

His eyes scanned the hall for the Ravenclaw. He had spent all of that afternoon working on his plan, since it was Sunday. Now he just needed the right person to carry it out.

Just then, he spotted her. Julia Soresay was ambling down the hall with a small group of friends, chatting seriously about a homework assignment. "Soresay," he called out. She looked up and met his eye.

"What, Malfoy?" She replied without emotion.

"A word?"

Julia followed Draco into the nearest empty classroom, telling her friends that she would catch up with them later. Draco closed the door of the classroom and turned to the girl, who was waiting expectantly.

"I have a job for you, and I'm willing to pay handsomely."

Julia raised an eyebrow. "I'm listening."

* * *

Suspense! The heat is really building in the story... I don't know about you guys but I'm getting excited!-E


	5. Discovered

"You do understand that as head of the school, Ms. Granger, this form of behavior is completely inappropriate," said Professor McGonagall, looking sternly over her glasses at the nervous girl.

"I'm so sorry, Professor, I just don't know what came over me… It won't happen again!" Hermione fidgeted her hands in her lap.

"I'm not just talking about today's events, Ms. Granger," the professor added. "Mr. Malfoy informed me that last night you were up late holding a party, even though you were told not to bring others into the dormitory."

At this, Hermione's mouth flew open in surprise. "I held no such party!"

"Well, how else would you like to explain your actions- or lack thereof- today?"

Hermione was speechless. But until that very moment, she had had no idea what was going on. Now, she knew exactly what had happened. And who was responsible for it.

~THE NIGHT BEFORE~

"Honestly, 'Mione, I'm not sure how you manage to deal with the git everyday," Ron commented, his mouth stuffed with chicken. Hermione winced slightly. It was everything she could do to keep Malfoy's words out of her head.

"I'm not sure what he thinks he's playing at," she replied, taking a small scoop of corn. "But I do know that if he thinks he's the one in control here, he's got another thing coming."

Suddenly, there was a tap on her shoulder. She looked up to see Julia Soresay, a Ravenclaw who was a year younger than her. Though they knew each other and sometimes spoke in Astronomy, they had never talked outside of class. Hermione knew that the girl was just as smart as she was.

"Sorry to bother you, but I was wondering if you couldn't help me with a bit of work? I'm a bit confused on the patterns in the Drailian system," the girl said.

Smiling to herself, she invited the girl to sit beside her. Though she was surprised that Julia was confused about anything, it brought her great pride in knowing that she could still one up the girl. Pulling Julia's charts towards her, she and the girl leaned over them and delved into a deep conversation. Hermione barely registered the fact that her friends wished her goodnight and went off to bed, that's just how involved she was. After about 15 minutes, Julia pulled back, satisfied. "That really cleared it up. Thank you, Hermione!"

"No problem," Hermione assured, smiling warmly. "See you tomorrow, then?"

"Yes, see you then." With that, the girl was gone.

Takings a few more sips of her pumpkin juice, Hermione noticed that in the span of only a few minutes, the hall had really started to clear out. She yawned and rose to go to her own room.

When she entered the Head common room, she was pleased to see that Draco was not in it. Though she still had a bit more work to finish before Wednesday, she figured it could wait another day. After all, she was suddenly feeling extremely tired. _I'll sleep well tonight,_ she thought happily to herself. Although she wouldn't put it past Malfoy to try some new scheme, he knew that the previous one was all too easy for her to fix.

Yawning once more, she climbed into bed and fell into a deep, peaceful sleep.

Downstairs, Julia Soresay was on her way back to the Ravenclaw common room when she passed Draco, who was lingering in the shadows. He raised an eyebrow at her and she responded with a wordless nod before continuing on.

Draco smiled to himself. Time to wreck Hermione Granger's perfect record.

~THE FOLLOWING DAY~

Hermione did not show up for a single class the following day, leaving several teachers in a worried state. They brought this to the attention of Professor McGonagall, who by the end of the day was quite upset. It was one of the duties of a Head Girl to attend all of her classes and attain excellent grades. After her last class of the day, the Professor called Draco Malfoy over to speak with her.

"I haven't any idea where she is. In fact, I haven't seen her all day, come to think of it!" He commented, his brow furrowed in pretend confusion.

"Will you go up to the dormitory and see if she is there?"

"Of course, Professor." He had almost left the classroom when he suddenly stopped and turned back around, a sudden idea coming to him. "Professor, I don't know if it's an important detail, but Granger was having a party in the dorm last night. It lasted pretty late," he added.

McGonagall's face twisted. "Please go and find her, Mr. Malfoy."

As Draco traveled through Hogwarts to go to their dorms, he laughed to himself. His plan had been a complete success. Soresay had been able to slip a heavy sleeping draught into Granger's juice last night, making her sleep through all of her classes. Not only would she now be behind, but McGonagall would think that she wasn't taking her responsibilities seriously.

When he reached Hermione's door, he gave it a hard rasp with his knuckles. Nothing. He tried the knob, but the door was locked. Pulling out his wand, he spoke the simple spell to get it open. The door lock clicked and he made his way inside. Sure enough, Hermione was still fast asleep in her bed. Her dreadfully curly hair- although, Draco had to admit, much less wild than it had been in past years- was spread out over her pillow and one of her hands lay on top of it. Since she was on her back, Draco caught glimpse of the girl's creamy white stomach. Surprisingly, it was quite flat and smooth looking. He shook away the strange urge to reach over and run his hand across it. A mudblood's skin, drawing him in? Hell no.

He was now standing directly over her, staring down into her face. She was breathing through her nose, and not, Draco noted, drooling all over her face like he had hoped. He had wanted to wake her while she was in her grossest state, wild hair and full of slobber, but he was quite disappointed to see that she was a rather calm and peaceful sleeper. He almost didn't want to wake her. But he wanted to fan the flame that was her fury when she woke and found out what had happened.

Now, how would he wake her? He certainly didn't want to touch her if he could avoid it…

"Granger," he said. Nothing. "Granger!"

She stirred a little but did not wake. Draco held his wand up and had it make a loud popping noise. Hermione abruptly sat up, met Draco's eyes, and fiercely began beating him with her pillow.

"GET- OUT- OF- MY- ROOM!"

With each word, she added a pillow whack. Draco aimed his wand at her and she stopped, breathing heavily and glaring at him.

"I was told to come get you. McGonagall wants a word," he announced without emotion. He couldn't give it away that easily- perhaps he could get her to believe that the sleeping was her own fault.

Hermione looked confused. "Why would she want to talk so early?" The pillow still dangled limply from her hands.

Draco shook his head. "It's the afternoon, you idiot girl."

Her eyes shot wide open and she whirled around to look out the window. Sure enough, it was late afternoon and the sun was beginning to set. "SHIT."

As she began scrambling to get ready, Draco slipped out of the room. He barely made it to his own room before he doubled over with laughter. Boy was she in for it.

~PRESENT DAY~

"I promise, Professor, it won't happen again," Hermione assured her professor. "I believe that someone slipped me a sleeping draught to mess with me, but I will take care of the situation properly."

McGonagall raised an eyebrow, but didn't press the matter any further. As soon as she was dismissed, Hermione hurried back to her common room. There, she found Draco lounging on one of the couches by the fire, a book in one hand and a half eaten apple in the other.

"I can't believe you, you bloody git!" She cried out. He didn't even glance up at her.

"I do a lot of bloody things, you're going to have to specify what exactly I've done this time," he answered seriously.

Hermione was fuming. "You know exactly what I'm talking about."

Still, he didn't look away from his book. "Well, unless you have any proof, I don't care to hear about it."

Hermione opened her mouth to argue but soon closed it again. Though she was fairly certain she knew how he had done it, she didn't have any solid evidence of the fact. He could have done it any number of ways, actually. With a huff, Hermione strode to the edge of the stairs before turning around once more. "Why are you doing all of this shit? It's hard enough being partnered with you, are you _trying_ to make my life hell?"

With that, Draco plopped his book onto the couch and stalked over to her until they stood face to face. He looked down menacingly into her face. "If you won't leave willingly, you're only forcing my hand, Granger."

Hermione looked taken aback. "So that's what this is about? You're trying to get me to give up being Head Girl?"

"Yes, would you please?" He pleaded sarcastically.

This only made her frown harder. "That's just low, Malfoy. If I can put up with you, you can put up with me. You're Head Boy, start freaking acting like it." And she was gone, leaving him there to soak that in.

His lip flared in a disgusted face. So he wasn't going to be able to get rid of her. He might've been able to continue trying to get her kicked out, but it seemed she had already figured out what he had done… Any more moves like that, she might very well report him. _And_ she might find evidence to support her claim. Draco couldn't afford to lose his position- he would become the laughing stock of the Slytherins.

Fine. He would just have to deal with her. But that didn't mean that _anything_ was going to change between them- he was still the Slytherin prince, and she was still the filthy Mudblood know-it-all.

Nothing would ever change that.

* * *

Seriously, guys, I'm a real person. You can talk to me about my storyyyyy, I want to hear back from you!-E


	6. New Challenges

"Ok, I bring this meeting on the 11th of September to order."

Hermione neatened the papers in front of her and looked out at the prefects in the room. Draco stood, leaning against the blackboard behind her. Like the first meeting, she suspected he wouldn't be contributing much to the conversation.

"First thing's first," Hermione began importantly. "Have there been any issues regarding schedules or other matters that we can fix?"

A Slytherin prefect raised her hand and informed Hermione that there were some conflicts with her Quidditch schedule, but she had managed to trade off shifts.

"I have a suggestion," said Emma Macmillan, a Hufflepuff prefect and younger sister to fellow 7th year Ernie. "I think that on big holidays we should have everyone on duty. I don't think we've discussed that before."

Draco made a noise from his position in the front of the classroom and Hermione turned to look at him. "Anything you'd care to share?"

He rolled his eyes. "Extra people on extra busy nights. It's the most obvious thing in the world, yet here we are discussing it."

Hermione didn't reply to his snide comment and turned to face the prefects again. "Suggestion accepted. We'll discuss it more when Halloween becomes closer. Now," she continued, pulling out a different paper from her pile. "The headmaster has asked us to this year focus on unity, especially between houses. Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions about how we can achieve this?"

They all took a minute to think before Ginny Weasley, who was of course a Gryffindor prefect, spoke up. "I think that a few years ago, the Yule Ball was such a success in bonding with the other schools. Maybe we could do a ball or dance of some sort?"

Hermione nodded. "This was something that I had considered. I think that if we are to do a ball, it should be after the winter holidays, so that everyone has a chance to get dress robes and dresses."

Several people murmured in agreement, others nodded. Hermione took that as a sign that most people would be open to having a ball. "Other ideas?"

A minute went by with no one offering up any suggestions. Hermione turned to look at Draco, who avoided her gaze. She then took it upon herself to bring up her own idea.

"Well, I was thinking that in perhaps a few weeks we have a field day."

Several people looked confused. "A what?" asked a few.

"A field day is something that muggle children might have," Hermione explained, earning her a look of disgust from the Slytherins in the room. "It's a day or few hours spent outside where there are games and activities, such as a three-legged race or a water balloon toss… And everyone eats outdoors…"

"What's a water balloon toss?" Asked Ginny, confused.

"The muggles have these small plastic balloons that can be filled with water," Kyle Thornside, a Ravenclaw prefect, spoke up. "And partners take turns throwing them and catching them. The goal is not to break them, because then you get wet."

Hermione looked to the Ravenclaw. "What do you think of the idea, then?"

He shrugged. "I think it's a fairly good idea. I mean, a lot of muggle borns will know how to do everything, but you're going to have a harder time with those who were born into wizarding families."

"Well, I was thinking that we have some activities that involve magic and some that don't. We can discuss details later, but if we are going to do the event, we need to come up with a basic plan," explained Hermione.

"So would everyone partner up for it, then?" Emma asked, looking quizzical.

"Yes, so everyone needs time to find a partner," Hermione answered. "And if they don't have one, they can be paired up with someone."

Ginny suddenly had an idea. "This is all about unity, right? Why don't we say that everyone needs to have a partner that isn't from their own house?"

"Won't that just cause more problems than it's worth?" Theodore Nott, a Slytherin prefect, interjected.

"I don't think so," said Hermione thoughtfully. "I think that even if everyone doesn't get along, we'll make positive steps towards our goal."

"It'll definitely be better than letting them partner with close friends from their own house. That generates a lot of rivalry between houses," added Kyle.

Hermione turned to Draco. "Any thoughts?"

He met her eye before glancing back down at his fingernails. "You expect everyone to want to participate in this? Plenty will hear the words 'muggle games' and completely reject this," he commented with no emotion.

"Even if everyone doesn't want to participate, I think they'll really enjoy themselves. It'll be new and different for everyone," Ginny said supportively. "I vote we do the field day."

"Me as well," added Kyle.

Except for Theodore and a Ravenclaw prefect, everyone seemed to be on board with the idea. Even one of the Slytherin prefects seemed to be seriously considering it.

"Perfect," said Hermione, clasping her hands together. "I'll bring the idea to McGonagall. She can make an announcement and then we can get to work on planning the events."

The meeting soon ended, and everyone left the room except Draco and Hermione, who was putting her papers back into order. Trying to make small talk, Hermione asked him if he thought the field day was a good idea.

He made no reply, and instead left the room, leaving her alone in it.

 _Fine,_ she thought. _Be a jerk. But I'm no longer stooping to your level._

Draco headed straight back to his own dormitory, trying not to think much about Hermione's idea. He was disgusted by it, the idea of pairing up with someone who was _not_ a Slytherin, playing muggle games run by none other than Granger. As Head Boy, he knew he would have to participate- which made him want to ignore it more than ever. He didn't even want to think about who he might ask to be his partner- he wasn't sure there was anyone he really could ask. All of his friends were Slytherins. Even though the Ravenclaws tended to be the only ones who didn't drive him crazy, he couldn't think of a single one of them to be partners with. Perhaps it was best if he just let someone else ask him, then boredly accept. If he asked, it might seem like he actually cared, anyways.

~THE FOLLOWING WEEK~

McGonagall's announcement had gone over quite well. Perhaps it was the fact that the staff had decided the field day would be held on a Friday and that all classes for that day would be cancelled. She had also added that this meant that everyone was required to participate.

Hermione was becoming excited. The school seemed to be buzzing with speculation, and it seemed everyone was turning to the muggle borns to give them more insight into what they might have to do in some of the games. Others talked about people who they could be partners with, and some had already decided who would be that partner. Harry was going to partner with Justin Finch-Fletchley, a Hufflepuff who was muggle born. The two had become pretty good friends after the incidents of 2nd year, and they had seemingly both decided that being partners would give them an advantage (Harry being who he was, seemingly infallible, and Justin being a muggle born with experience in muggle sports.)

Ron had, after many days of complaining about not being able to partner with Hermione, found a partner in Ernie Macmillan, who was in their History of Magic class. Hermione, however, still had not found a partner. Her first thought might have been Luna Lovegood, but Hermione and the girl didn't exactly see eye to eye on fact vs fiction. Besides, Neville had quickly scooped her up as a partner.

Though she didn't care much about winning the games, she wanted a partner who she could still have fun with. She just wasn't sure who that could be.

Sitting in the common room with her homework, Hermione went over all the people she knew in her head that could be possible partners. Julia Soresay was decidedly out, since it had most likely been her that had drugged her the week before.

Draco entered the common room, interrupting her thoughts. "Have you found a partner yet?" She asked him curiously.

He stopped dead in his tracks and glanced over at her. "Why are you speaking to me?"

Hermione rolled her eyes. Sometimes, he was far too pretentious. Actually, he was all of the time. "I'm just curious. Have you found a partner?"

"I don't have time to be looking for a stupid partner for this stupid game," he sneered, turning away. That was a no then.

Suddenly, a thought came to her. Perhaps they could be partners. They may not like each other in the slightest, but she definitely needed his help with organizing the events. Perhaps being partnered with him would get him to engage in it more. Plus, it would set a good example for the other students. It wasn't like she had many other options anyways. "Be my partner," she said to his back.

He turned around slowly, a mixture of scorn and shock on his face. " _Excuse_ me?"

"You need a partner, I need a partner, we're both organizing the event," she explained with a shrug.

Turning away, he began walking once more towards his dormitory. "I wouldn't be partners with you, Granger, if you were the last person on Earth," he said flatly, his back to her.

Despite his rejection, which she had expected, she had given him the option. Now, when he couldn't find a partner, he'd be forced to reconsider. All she had to worry about now was organizing the games themselves.

The realization of what she had just asked Draco struck her just then. Had she really considered that a good option? Even if he was her partner, he would probably try his hardest to make her lose everything possible. She reminded herself that winning was not her goal, only setting an example. And, if she and Draco eventually ended up as partners, it would not change anything between them. He was still an asshole, and she was still the best witch of her time.

Nothing would ever change that.

* * *

Yes, I ended this chapter with the same words as the last, I know. It just seemed to fit.

Anyways, sorry it's been a few days since my last update. I actually spent the last two days in Universal Orlando, where I spent a LOT of time in the Harry Potter villages. I felt like a child in a candy store, it was amazing!

Also, I just checked the story stats and I can't tell you how happy it makes me that almost 400 people have visited my story in only a week. It's only my first story, so I wasn't sure how much success I'd have. Seems like I'm doing alright!

Thanks for taking the time to read my story and sorry for the long author's note! -E


	7. A Small Concession

The days flew by leading up to the field day, which only served to make Hermione more stressed. In addition, her classes were really piling on the work. Nothing she couldn't handle, though. She was determined to push through and still come out on top.

Draco seemed to have lost the desire to compete with her in class. Now that he knew he wasn't really getting to her, he had turned to straight up ignoring her. Not only that, but he was neglecting his duties as Head Boy. The truth was, he wasn't totally sure who he was anymore. He couldn't do much more than irritate Hermione and there was no chance of surpassing her in class. His friends became more distant as he visited the Slytherin common room less and less, making him feel more alone than he had ever felt. He still spoke to Blaise at meal times, but there seemed to be less and less to talk about. What had happened to him? It seemed as if the Slytherin prince had lost his title, had lost what had once mattered most to him.

To top it all off, it looked like no one was going to ask to be partners with him for the stupid field day. It was less than a week away now, and his only option on the table was _Granger_. He would never approach her and tell her that he had reconsidered, however. There was only so low he was able to sink.

"So what do you guys think we should award as prizes?" Hermione polled her friends over lunch one day.

"Galleons," said Ron without hesitation.

"Where exactly would we get the funding for that?" asked Ginny, who was seated beside Harry. It looked as if their hands were entwined under the table. Of course, Ron knew about the relationship and was fine with it, but Hermione thought it was cute how they were shy about public displays of affection.

"I'll fund it," Harry offered, shrugging.

"Absolutely not," Hermione replied immediately, making Ron's hopeful expression disappear. "We need a prize that isn't money."

"Ok, how about the winners get to punch Malfoy in the mouth?" Ron suggested, reaching for Hermione's left hand under the table. She took it, but was repulsed to find it clammy and sweaty. She held back a wince.

"Fine by me," Harry agreed nonchalantly. "By the way, how's it been going with him, Hermione?"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "At least he's decided to no longer speak to me. I much prefer that than him trying to get me kicked out of the Head Girl position…"

Ron nearly choked on his lamb chop. "'E did wha?" His mouth was so full that it was hard for anyone to understand him. The shock on his face, however, made it evident.

Hermione mentally slapped herself. She hadn't been intending to tell them that. Across the table, Harry's expression grew dark and serious. "Hermione, if he's threatening you-"

"He's not," she assured him. "I took care of it. Put him in his place."

"I can't believe you didn't tell us!" Ron's mouth was clear now. He squeezed her hand, which wasn't exactly pleasant, though she appreciated the concern.

"I didn't want you to react like this! I can handle myself."

Ron leaned in closer to her so he could speak softly to just her. "'Mione, we're together now. We need to be open with what we're facing," he said.

Hermione bit her lip and turned her face to her boyfriend. He was right, she hadn't exactly been completely there in the relationship. If she was going to make it work, she needed to stop keeping things to herself. Ron's expression was filled with soft concern. Hermione suddenly became nervous that he might kiss her at the table in front of everyone.

"How about a trip to Hogsmeade after classes?" Harry suggested, breaking the bubble around Hermione and Ron.

"Wonderful idea," Hermione agreed, turning back to face him.

Across the room, Draco was watching with vague interest. He noticed the expression on the Weasel's face, how he probably would have kissed her- and how obviously the Mudblood didn't want to. As predicted, they wouldn't be lasting much longer. That was not a true relationship.

~LATER, AT HOGSMEADE~

"I'm telling you, it tasted like hair!"

The whole group was laughing again, since Ron wouldn't stop arguing the fact that his Every Flavor Bean had tasted like, well, hair. "How is that even possible?" Harry shot back with a laugh.

"How is a deodorant one possible?" Ron argued.

The group continued to joke about the beans that they had had on their way to the Three Broomsticks to grab some Butterbeer. "Grossest one I ever had was a curdled milk. That stuff shouldn't even be legal," Ginny added with a slight shiver at the thought. Hermione watched as Harry squeezed her hand with affection. Ginny met his eyes and smiled before blushing and continuing on their way. That, she thought, was a relationship meant to last.

The four entered the Three Broomsticks and quickly found an empty table towards the back of the room. "I'll go and get drinks," Ron offered before pecking Hermione on the cheek and heading off. Blushing profusely, she sat down with the other two, who had begun to discuss the Quidditch match that was coming up at the beginning of October. Though not really participating, Hermione listened in with feigned interest on the conversation. Usually, Quidditch was something she found exciting and interesting to watch. Today however, her mind was otherwise occupied. It was filled with thoughts of not only her growing workload but also a relationship she wasn't sure was going to last much longer.

Ron approached the bar to grab drinks when he spotted none other than Draco Malfoy, sitting alone at a two person table by the window with a Butterbeer. He was distracted, gazing out the window with an almost blank expression. Making a split second decision, Ron veered off course and approached the boy's table. He then cleared his throat, looming above the Slytherin boy. Draco didn't even look up.

"Stop picking on my girlfriend, you slimy git," he said with a low growl.

Draco's expression didn't change much as he made eye contact with the boy standing above him. What appeared was a look of disinterest mixed with disgust. "Who are you to threaten me, Weasel? I'll do what I want," he replied with scorn.

"If you want to keep your face intact I suggest you leave her alone," Ron threatened, fists clenching.

Draco laughed, but inside it felt hollow. "It's cute how you're standing up for the bitch. Even though she's going to end your _relationship_ as soon as she works up the nerve."

Next thing he knew, Draco was flying off the chair onto the floor, a red headed blur atop him. He was receiving multiple punches to the face, so he reached up and attempted to pull the boy off of him. They were only down for a few seconds before Weasley was being pulled off of him and he was being pulled up to his feet. There was now a circle of people standing around, their eyes wide with shock. Included in the circle were Granger and none other than Prince Potter.

Yanking himself away from those who were trying to help him to his feet, he brushed past Ron and broke through the circle, heading straight outside. He had had enough experience with the Gryffindors to last a lifetime.

~LATER, THE HEAD COMMON ROOM~

Taking a deep breath, Hermione knocked on Draco's door. She knew she was going to regret trying to have a conversation with the boy, but the fact of the matter was that Ron had attacked him needlessly. He had been leaving her alone for weeks and then Ron decided to start something new. If she wasn't sinking to his level, she needed to rise above.

The door opened after a moment, a serious- faced boy appearing in the doorway. "What do you want, Granger? Come to start a fight as well? Want me to apologize for provoking your boyfriend?" Something behind his hatred filled eyes seemed missing. It took away from his cutting words.

"Actually," she replied, taking a deep breath. " _I_ wanted to apologize."

With a snort, he shut the door in her face. She continued talking anyways, knowing he could still hear her. "Ron was out of line. He wouldn't have attacked you if I hadn't said anything about our conflict before. I'm sorry."

She stood there for a minute, expecting the door to reopen. She stood there for about five minutes before he actually did. "Is this some sort of act to get me to be partners with you? Because I already told you, Granger, I would rather be partners with a rat."

Hermione was slightly surprised. Not what she had been going for, but alright. "Just be my partner already. Merlin knows everyone else is taken," she argued, pursuing his train of thought.

They stood there for a long few minutes, staring each other down.

A million voices in Draco's head told him to shut the door in her face again. A million more told him to call her a name and cuss her out. One tiny one in the back of his mind told him to just accept it.

As he fought with his voices, he stared into her face. As he looked over it's every feature, he realized that he wasn't actually repulsed by it like he always thought he had been. Her eyes were soft and kind, though stubborn. Her nose was perfectly proportionate to the rest of her face, and her lips looked soft and smooth. She had a thin sprinkling of freckles across her nose, something that Draco had once thought of as a blemish. Now, he thought they might actually look… _nice._

Frowning, Draco tore his attention away from her face. She was trying to mess with his head in a way he couldn't figure out. Almost every bit of him was pushing to reject her, to ignore her, to send her away.

But as the imprint of her face bounded around his head, the little voice who had told him to accept her grew just strong enough. His eyes met her face again, and something pulsed through his heart. He had no idea what it was, but he knew that he needed to get away. "Fine," he muttered before closing the door in her face again.

Hermione stood there, dumbfounded. Had he actually just agreed to be partners with her?

~THE NEXT MORNING~

Draco woke with his head on straight for the first time in weeks. He had lost his touch and now he was resigning himself to partnerships with Granger. It wasn't happening anymore. He was going to find himself a new partner and leave Granger behind in his dust. He was getting back in the game.

He marched straight down to breakfast, finding Blaise immediately. "I need your help."

Blaise looked up at him, surprised. Then he quickly smiled. "There he is, thought we'd lost ya."

Draco sat down beside his friend. "I've been in a slump. But I need you to help me get a partner for this stupid field day before Granger forces me to be hers."

The other boy's eyes opened wide with shock. "Oh man. Normally it'd be no problem, but we're really crunched for time. How desperate are we talking? First year partner desperate?"

Draco scowled. "Try not to stoop that low."

Blaise nodded, deep in thought. "I'll report back at the end of the day."

"Thanks."

At the Gryffindors table, Hermione seemed to be in some sort of trance. Draco Malfoy had actually agreed to be her partner. And she had actually asked him. And to be honest, she wasn't that repulsed by these thoughts. What was wrong with her?

What was wrong with him?

Something had definitely changed. Not only was he more secluded, but seemed to no longer be calling her a Mudblood- at least, not to her face.

A sudden thought struck her. How would Ron react to hearing that she was partnered with Draco? Would he start another fight? Eyeing him next to her, she heard the bell to go to class. Instead of separating, however, Ron followed after her and caught her hand. "Hermione? Are you alright?"

Hermione snapped out of her stupor. "Yes, of course. Just tired, you know."

Ron's worry didn't seem to subside. "It's just that… Malfoy said something…"

The girl stopped in her tracks, which surprised Ron. "What did he say?"

Gulping, Ron visible tensed. "I know I shouldn't take him seriously, but he said that you wanted to end our relationship… I know it's probably a load of bull, but I just wanted to make sure…"

Hermione was at a loss for words. Had Draco really said that to him?

"Hermione? You still want to be with me, right?"

Her heart rate increased. Ron was driving her into a corner that she didn't know how to get out of. "Well… I really like you, Ron…"

His face fell. "But not like that?" Hermione's mouth opened and she searched for words. She could tell him that nothing had changed, that she really did love him. But somehow, she felt like that wouldn't really be true.

"Ron, I-"

"Save it," he cut her off. "I get it. You don't want to be with me."

"No! I do," she said quickly, trying to keep tears from her eyes. Her mouth opened to say something else, then she shut it again.

"But what?" He accused, releasing her hand and taking a small step back. She struggled to figure out what to say. She wasn't good at relationships, she didn't know if he was what she wanted, whether or not she wanted to break up.

"I just think we're moving really fast, and I'm a little uneasy about it," she lied, hoping that would save her.

Ron looked appalled. "Too fast? Are you kidding me? We've known each other for 7 years now! It's not like I'm-" his voice dropped to a whisper. "Begging you for sex or anything, all we've done is kiss, Hermione!"

She bit her lip nervously and tears welled up in her eyes.

"Be honest with me, Hermione."

She took a deep, shuddering breath, about to let the truth come out. "I'm just not sure we're right for each other. Not in this way."

He took a few steps back from her, his face proving that she had just confirmed his worst suspicions. "If that's how you feel, then we're through, Hermione." With that, he turned and stalked off towards his first class.

Holding back tears, Hermione numbly walked to her own first lesson. She seated herself away from Harry and Ron in Potions, silently completing her work and doing everything possible not to think about what had just happened. She barely noticed the fact that Draco was once again vying for the teacher's attention with his potion making skills, didn't even notice that he was glancing over at her every so often, expecting a challenge. She kept her head (and hand) down for the rest of the day, simply doing as she was told and taking notes.

At diner, Draco noticed that Hermione didn't even show up. Blaise waved a hand in front of his friend's face.

"You in there, man?"

Draco snapped back to attention. "Of course."

"Well, I got some good news," Blaise began excitedly. "Wasn't easy, but I found a fourth year Ravenclaw who hasn't got a partner. Not a total muggle born, just half, which is a plus. Female, though. Best I can do."

Draco smirked at the details. "Good enough. You're the man," he told Blaise, elbowing him in a friendly way.

Blaise's eyes flickered with amusement. "Wish I could see the look on Granger's face when she finds out you have a partner."

"I'll let you know how it goes," Draco assured him, getting up from the table.

When he finally reached the common room, however, he was surprised that Hermione wasn't in it, studying or something. _Must be in her room_. He climbed the stairs that led up to the ledge and was just about to rap on her door when he heard a noise coming from her room.

Hermione Granger was crying. Crying a waterfall, by the sound of it.

Suddenly, the pride Draco had felt in being back on his game fell unexpectedly. He had noticed that she had been sort of out of it all day, but she was really distraught? Then he realized that Granger and the Weasel must've broken it off. Draco scowled at the thought. If she had broken up with that scum, why the hell was she upset about it? He would never understand females.

Draco raised his hand once more, this time to open her door. He had to tell her that he had found a new partner. This was his perfect opportunity. Crush her while she's weak. It was just the thing that he would have done any other year of his life.

But for some reason, he couldn't bring himself to open the door. He didn't possibly _pity_ her- did he? No, of course not. He wasn't going to tell her because now he had a reason to be her partner. Now that she and the Weasel had broken up, being partners with her would get under his skin. Weasley wasn't strong willed like Granger- he would snap almost immediately. Draco grinned to himself. Yes, it wasn't pity- it was a new opportunity.

Leaving the spot in front of her door, he headed back to his own room. The feeling of getting back to his old ways was reassuring. He wasn't slipping away or losing his touch. As he lay back to fall asleep, he imagined the look on the Weasel's face as he competed alongside the girl he cared about. He didn't even think about the Ravenclaw, who he would be completely abandoning as far as partnerships go.

He ignored and pushed away the mere thought of pity for Hermione. Draco Malfoy didn't pity.

* * *

Figured that for once I'd take the time to do a long chapter- gosh I'm so excited to write about the field day, that's up next- so I hope you guys like! Thanks for the support! -E


	8. Let the Games Begin

"Water balloons?"

"Check."

"Sacks for sack race?"

"Check."

"Eggs and spoons?"

"Check and check."

"Quidditch balls from Madam Hooch?"

"Check."

"Ok. And how's the food coming?"

Ginny looked up from the list that she had been double checking with Hermione. "The house elves have been working all morning on it and it will be transported out to the picnic tables when ready," she assured.

Hermione smacked her forehead. "That reminds me- whipped cream and tins?"

"Check. Calm down, Hermione, everything is in place and ready to go. Everyone's got their stations to start with and everyone's prepared," she said calmly. Hermione visibly relaxed. "It's going to go great."

"I know, I know. I guess I'm just a little on edge," she admitted.

"How are you?" Ginny asked cautiously. "I mean, now that you and Ron-"

"I'm fine," Hermione said quickly. "I wasn't as into the relationship as he was and that's not fair to him. I'm just going to focus on preparing for NEWTs and my duties as Head Girl…"

"Alright," Ginny replied. "Let me know if you need to talk."

"I will."

Just then, Draco came ambling down the hill towards them, where they had set up all the activities for the day. He was wearing a tight white t shirt and black jeans. His hair was as neat and slick as ever. The t shirt, Hermione couldn't help but notice, eccentuated the boy's large abs. She had to tear away her eyes in order to keep away unwanted and unnecessary thoughts. Hermione was wearing a pair of jean shorts and an old navy blue t shirt that sported the name of her family's dentistry in white lettering. She had thrown her hair up in a messy bun that she now realized self consciously might look like she had just woken up. Fiddling with it, she pretended not to notice when Draco arrived beside her.

"When do we start?" He asked plainly.

"Excited for the field day after all, Malfoy?" Ginny teased, looking over her clipboard.

"More like excited to get it over with," he muttered, but glanced over Hermione's shoulder at her clipboard. "You're going to do the explaining, right?"

"Yes, all you have to do is cooperate," she answered cooly. He didn't say anything else.

As the time on Hermione's small wristwatch reached 10 'o clock, the students of Hogwarts filed out onto the lawn. The prefects joined Hermione, Draco and Ginny in their circle for a minute to receive their clipboards before heading to their first station. Hermione used her wand to amplify her voice.

"Good morning everyone! Would you please proceed to the first and second picnic tables to receive the number for the group you will be moving with! Stick with your partner! If you don't have one yet, please see Ginny Weasley, who is standing by the Gamekeeper's hut!" Doing as told, the students and even some teachers began to crowd in front of the picnic tables. It took a while, but eventually everyone had a partner and an event to start with. The prefects, a pair of which were stationed at each event, made sure that everyone was accounted for and then gave Hermione a thumbs up. Hermione did the same with the group that had approached her and Draco. Looking around, she was pleased to find Professor McGonagall and Professor Dumbledore were placed into her group. In addition, Ron, Harry and their partners had ended up one group over. She heaved a sigh of relief before making a second announcement.

"Each group will be directed by a set of prefects, so please follow all of their instructions. At the end of each of your events, winners will receive points marked by your prefects. The pair with the most points at the end of today will receive two tickets each-" she held the tickets in the air high above her head- "to the 423rd Quidditch World Cup!"

There was a loud thunder of applause as the students became excited. They hadn't realized that there would be such a big prize to aim for. Hermione was suddenly very grateful that Draco had supplied her the tickets without her even asking him for anything. "Play fair and play well! Prefects, begin!"

With that, she returned her voice to normal and turned to the group she had been given. Most of them, she noted, looked excited to begin. This was either because they were missing class or because there was such a big prize at stake. Professor McGonagall gave Hermione a quick smile before she began explaining the event.

"Ok, Group 1! The first event you will be doing today is one that you can't use your wands for, so please place them _all_ in the basket over here," Hermione told them with dignity. They did as told, some more reluctantly than others. "The first event is called an egg and spoon race. One partner in each pair will stand behind this golden line here-" Hermione gestured to the floating golden line that hovered just above the grass- "with a spoon in one hand and an egg balanced atop it. Your job is carry that egg in the spoon to your partner, who will be behind the second line over there-" another gesture- "waiting to take it from you. They then have to run all the way back with it and be the first to cross the line. I'll give a quick demonstration."

Hermione picked up an egg from the carton that lay beside her feet and a spoon. She balanced the egg on it, ushered Draco to step back a bit, then walked to him carefully with the egg. He then took the spoon from her wordlessly and walked back to the group with it.

"Simple, really," he said, taking the egg off the spoon and replacing it in the carton.

"Questions?" Hermione asked, rushing back over. Several people had raised an eyebrow at the strange game, but no one spoke up. "Alright, one partner grab an egg and spoon and everyone line up!" She announced, stepping out of the way and retrieving her clipboard from the grass.

As she blew the whistle and the game began, Draco glanced around to see if he could spot Ron. He noticed him in the next group over, giving their backs a hardened stare. Smirking, Draco hovered his palm just over Hermione's back, making it appear to Ron that he had actually placed his hand on her. Ron's face turned bright red and it looked as if he would've run over if the prefect leading his group hadn't yelled at him to pay attention. With a last huff and death glare at Draco, Ron turned away, though he glanced over his shoulder often at them.

On the field in front of them, Dumbledore had hiked up the bottom of his robes and was making haste towards McGonagall. Neville was doing surprisingly well, and he was actually one of the ones in the lead. Several people had already dropped and broken their eggs and we're heading back to the start line frantically to grab new ones. At the front of the group was a burly looking Hufflepuff, who was clutching the spoon pretty close to his body to maintain as much control of it as possible. Soon, they began to cross the line on the other side, quickly handing off their spoons and eggs to their partners.

McGonagall was taking much more time than her partner, causing Dumbledore to yell out words of encouragement ("You can speed up, Minerva!"). Several other partners were also being a bit more cautious, resulting in quite a lot of hollering. The partner of the burly Hufflepuff, however, had managed to keep the lead that her teammate had began with. In the end, Hermione gave points accordingly to the top five teams, which actually included Luna and Neville.

Glancing around to see who else had finished their event, Hermione made eye contact with Kyle Thornside. The two groups switched places and Hermione began explaining a sac race, which turned out to be quite a fun event to watch. People were tripping left and right, and Professor Dumbledore was actually attempting to waddle with it on. Some started out jumping with the sacs immediately, while others had to find out the hard way that that was the best way to go about it.

Next, they ended up on the miniature Quidditch pitch that had been set up. Since Quidditch required teams of more than two, pairs were put in bigger groups to play the game and points were given to all the members of the winning team. Since Hermione didn't really have any experience on a broomstick, she was thankful that she didn't have to show her group how to play it. Standing beside the mini pitch, Hermione glanced around at other groups. At the whipped cream contest, Hagrid's face was buried in a tin. When his head popped up, Hermione laughed to see that most of it had actually gotten in his beard.

Hearing Hermione laugh, Draco glanced sideways at her. He had been focusing his attention on Ron, who was trying his hardest not to focus on him. He had just been thinking to himself how fun the confrontation would be latter when her laugh actually startled him. He noticed that she was laughing at that silly oaf of a teacher, Hagrid. As he turned back to his thoughts, he couldn't help but realize that the field day wasn't half as bad as he thought it would be. There was a Ravenclaw girl in another group that kept glaring at him for blowing her off, but he hardly noticed. As soon as Ron glanced back over at the pair, Draco moved until he was quite close to Hermione, reading the clipboard over her shoulder and pretending to check the point standings. She hardly noticed, still watching Hagrid. Ron visibly narrowed his eyes, but Draco took his time in moving away.

One thing that he hadn't expected was how nice Hermione would smell. It wasn't as if she was loaded up with some perfume- it was the natural smell of her that drew him in. Her shampoo, probably. It was almost intoxicating, but Draco managed to slide away.

Next, however, was the water balloon tossed, which Hermione informed him that they would be doing alongside the group. After she had lined everyone up and passed out the water balloons, Hermione explained that after each toss, the thrower took a step back. With a small toss, Hermione threw a small orange balloon to Draco, who caught it with ease. She then took a small step back. He tossed it back to her, trying to be as careful as he could.

Left and right, balloons started popping, wetting several unlucky partners. Dumbledore actually ended up dosing McGonagall with a rather large one, but rather than being scornful she started laughing at her own misfortune. Draco turned his attention back to his own balloon. _If Granger gets me wet…_

Suddenly, the water balloon that he tossed exploded on the front of Hermione's t shirt. He expected her to look irritated, but instead she, like McGonagall, began laughing. Draco couldn't imagine what was funny about getting wet, but he allowed himself a small smirk at the situation.

Looking around again as she dried in the sun, Hermione noticed that most of the pairs in other groups were working pretty well together. She watched, astonished, as a Slytherin that was tied to a Hufflepuff actually high fived. There were several small quarrels for the prefects to break up, but overall everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves.

There were several other games to play, such as a three-legged race and an ultimate frisbee match, which took the group a while to get used to the rules. As the three legged race was about to begin, Hermione had asked Draco if he wanted to do it with her, since to her it looked like quite a lot of fun. He had been about to decline when he saw that once again Weasley was watching him very closely. With a mischievous smile, he agreed and allowed her bare leg to be bound his. The two then hopped and struggled down the field with the rest of the pairs, trying desperately not to fall over.

"It's a pattern, Draco!" Hermione called out as he once again almost tripped her.

He was so surprised at being called by his first name that a second later, the pair tripped and actually did fall. Draco landed on top of the girl uncomfortably, who immediately began blushing profusely. Draco smirked. "Blushing, Granger? Bit more attracted to me than you thought?"

With a heavy eye roll, Hermione heaved him off of her and her face quickly returned to normal. The two took a break on the grass during the frisbee match, then rejoined the activities for a competition that involved using wands. One partner, Hermione explained, was to keep the other aloft while racing through an obstacle course of cones, heavy tires, and small walls that they had to hurdle over. The trick was to keep the focus on the partner that was up in the air while still making it through the course.

"I am _not_ letting you carry me as you run through this thing," Draco announced poignantly.

Hermione sighed heavily, surrendering to his stubbornness. "Fine. Lift me. But drop me and I'll hex you," she warned without a hint of sarcasm.

Concentrating, Draco used his wand to lift her into the air and keep her aloft as he moved through the course. "Slow down, you're going to lose focus," she warned him as he started to get confident with his control.

"Calm down, I'm not dropping your whinny ass," he replied, trying to focus on the task at hand. To Hermione's relief, he made it to the end of the course before he set her down safely. Poor Neville and Luna had not done nearly as well, and a group of first years were still having trouble starting the race. McGonagall was taking her time, carrying Dumbledore over one of the hurdles.

"I know we're old, Minerva, but that doesn't mean we have to take our time," the headmaster commented from above. McGonagall rolled her eyes heavily.

"Maybe I should have taken my time picking a partner," she muttered.

There was only one event left, and it was the whipped cream pie tin contest. The contestants each received a pie tin filled with whipped cream, which they had to lick clean with no help from their hands. All they could use was their mouth and face to maneuver their tongues around the tin. In addition, both partners had to finish before they could be officially done.

"For the record, I'm not doing this," Draco muttered to Hermione.

She eyed him mischievously. "Why? Afraid of getting a little dirty?"

"Not afraid," he replied quickly. "Extremely disinterested." He watched the other contestants cover their faces with the whipped cream. A Gryffindor second year managed to get quite a bit of it in his hair, which Draco grimaced at. He couldn't imagine getting his perfect hair messed up. That is, he couldn't have imagined it, at least until Hermione Granger decided to splatter him in the face with a tin of whipped cream.

He was utterly stunned, not sure what to do. "Revenge for getting me wet earlier," she told him, laughing hysterically.

Wiping whipped cream from his eyes, he stared at her until she stopped laughing, a little uncomfortable. That was when he smashed one into her face. After the initial shock, she was laughing again. Draco couldn't help but smile a little too, despite the fact that he was now a mess. "Never try to one up me," he told her, trying to sound stern but failing. As they both wiped off their faces with towels that Hermione made appear with her wand, the other groups were just finishing up.

"All right, everyone," Hermione called out to them. "We'll be having lunch once the other groups finish with their last games. The prefects will be totaling the scores and figuring out a winner!" At this, there was a round of applause around the whipped cream covered picnic tables. She gave them all towels and released them, allowing them to chat and joke around with each other.

Soon, all the groups had finished and the prefects were meeting with Hermione and Draco in a circle as they tried to determine which team had earned the most points. The students were well into their barbecue style lunch when they finally figured it out and prepared to announce the winner.

Hermione used her voice amplifying spell to once again grab the attention of the entire student body. "Attention! After much calculation, we have found our winner of today's events!"

Waiting until everyone was silent, Hermione looked out onto all of the students who were eating their lunch. Many had actually chosen to sit with the partners they had competed with, which told her that their experiment had been a success. Having their attention, Hermione lifted a sheet of paper in front of her face.

"With a total of 37 points, the winning team is Alexander Loufler from Hufflepuff and Julia Soresay from Ravenclaw!" There was a polite round of applause as the victor pair rose to receive their prize tickets. As she approached the front, Julia avoided eye contact with Hermione. Hermione then announced the second place winners, which included the burly Hufflepuff from Hermione's group, and the third place, which was the surprise pairing of Madam Hooch and the Arithmancy teacher. Each of those pairs received gift cards to Honeydukes in Hogsmeade.

"Quite surprised Potter didn't manage to nab this victory," Draco muttered beside Hermione.

"He came in fourth," Hermione shot back without turning to look at him. "Can't win all the time, you know."

After all the commotion had come back on, the prefects found seats to join in on the food. Hermione and Draco separated wordlessly and Hermione cautiously decided to seat herself next to Ginny at Harry and Ron's table. She had only just sat down when Ron stood up, muttering about having to use the lav.

Harry looked quite uncomfortable and hardly made eye contact with Hermione. "I understand," Hermione said to him quietly. "You're his best friend, you need to be on his side right now."

Looking very relieved that Hermione understood his predicament, Harry continued to eat again. "I hope this blows over soon so we can all be friends again," he admitted.

"Me too," said Hermione, her gaze falling on Ron's retreating back.

At another picnic table on the field, Draco seated himself beside Blaise, who threw him an odd look. "Why'd you partner with the Gryffindor? I got you a perfectly good partner," he said with a furrowed brow.

Draco explained how Granger and the Weasel had split, and he had been aggravating her ex all day by simply being near her.

Blaise's frown changed to a grin. "Ah, there's the Draco I know. I was so confused. So glad that Potthead didn't nab that victory."

Nodding, Draco slipped into his own thoughts. Today actually hadn't been that bad. It might even have been… _fun_. At least, getting to annoy Weasley from afar was definitely an important highlight. And being partners with Hermione hadn't been nearly as bad as he thought it would be- though she did smack him with a tin of whipped cream.

But the more he thought about it, the more he realized that it had only made him angry for a second or two. He had gotten her right back, and they had- wait, she had- laughed about it. Then there was the time when they fell, because she had the audacity to call him by his first name. The way she had said it played over in his head. So quickly, like she hadn't even considered what she was saying. So naturally.

Did he like that, being on a familiar basis with her?

Draco shook his head. He needed to stop thinking like that. For seven years, they had been enemies. They couldn't change that now, even though a very, very small part of him sort of wanted to.

Ok, maybe a medium sized part. But the rest of his head overtook that, squashing away the idea. Trying to distract himself, Draco tuned into the conversation that Blaise was now having with a fellow Slytherin at their table. He refused to let himself think about Hermione Granger for the rest of lunch.

After lunch, a tug of war match was set up and a new set of water balloons was out for the students to have a free for all for the rest of the afternoon. Some students, it turned out, had enjoyed ultimate frisbee so much that they went right back to playing that. Professor McGonagall approached Hermione, who was now sitting alone at a picnic table, watching everyone enjoy themselves.

"Excellent work, Ms. Granger. I've never seen so much unity between houses in all my years of teaching at Hogwarts," McGonagall admitted with admiration. "I can't wait to see what else you plan this year. I probably shouldn't tell you this, but I think the staff agrees that you're the best Head Girl we've had in a long time," she added with a wink before strolling off towards the castle.

Smiling to herself, Hermione looked out over the students. She noticed that on the mini Quidditch pitch, several Slytherins had started up a small game amongst themselves. Her eyes landed on Draco, who was flying while laughing with Blaise Zabini. She couldn't help but think about how different he had acted that day. He hardly said anything degrading at all and had even smiled a little after she smashed him with the pie tin. Actually smiled.

And it hadn't been one of his smirks or evil grins or whatever. It had been a real smile, like the one he now shared with his friend as the raced around on broomsticks.

Maybe she had been right before, when she had thought that maybe Draco had really changed. If he had, maybe the last seven years were behind them. Maybe they could move forward and be something other than enemies.

As she allowed herself to think that something else might be possible, she watched him swoop and dip on his broomstick. With a smile on his face and his hair blowing in the wind, she couldn't help but notice how attractive he actually was. Once she got past the nasty comments and the constant scowling, he was actually really handsome.

For once, Hermione didn't mind letting herself think that. For once, she allowed herself to think that she might be, even just slightly, attracted to Draco Malfoy.

* * *

Super extra long, hope you all love me for it! Also also also- Hermione might be attracted to him?! -E


	9. Enticement

Draco was hiding. Technically. He wasn't _afraid_ of being face to face with Ron Weasley- definitely not. He just wanted to make sure that the next time they saw each other was in class, where the other boy would have to struggle against not starting a fight. It would be fun to watch.

He was pulled out of his thoughts by a knock at the door. It could only be one person. Opening the door, his eyes landed on Hermione, who was standing there looking a bit nervous. Draco cocked an eyebrow, amused at her discomfort. "Hey, I just wanted to say thanks," she said, biting her lip.

"For what?"

"For the tickets. For making…. It was… Fun…. Fun for…." The girl looked down at the floor, certain that she was embarrassing herself. "Fun for everyone," she finished decidedly, meeting his eyes once more. "That's all I wanted to say. Thanks." With that, she turned on her heels and walked towards her own room.

Draco watched her back, thinking that perhaps what she had been trying to say is that he had made it fun for her specifically. He had to admit, a nervous Hermione Granger was a cute one.

That thought struck up another in his brain. Was she nervous because she had feelings for him? No, impossible. Not after all the years of torture they had behind them. But as he closed his door and stepped back into his room, he realized that Hermione had called him by his first name during the field day. It might not have been much, but it was definitely proof that she was capable of putting the past behind her. As for Draco, he wasn't sure how to feel about the girl. Sure, he wanted to aggravate Weasley till he exploded- but could there be anything else behind his motives? Did he want to touch her? Did he want to be close to her?

Impossible. Draco didn't get attracted to women, they got attracted to him. If Hermione wanted him, then fine- he would give her the mind blowing sexual experience that so many other women had gotten from him. And then he would rub it into the Weasel's face. But he certainly wouldn't be attracted to her.

Would he?

Closing her door, Hermione slid down the wall to the floor. She was an utter embarrassment. The problem was, once she had allowed herself to think of Draco as someone she was attracted to, the thought wouldn't go away. She knew that Draco didn't think about women that way- he had sex with them and then sent them away. No strings attached. But Hermione couldn't do a relationship like that. She needed the damn strings to even take a step towards a sexual encounter.

Huffing, Hermione got back to her feet and got her face back under control. It was just impossible, that's what it was. A relationship with Draco? Couldn't be done. So she would just have to drop the idea completely.

Glancing at her wristwatch, she decided that she should probably go down to dinner and be with her friends. Reopening her door just a hair, she peeked out into the hallway to make sure she would be alone. Then she hurried off to dinner, where she seated herself next to Ginny.

Across the table, Ron was staring at her, a mixture of anger and disbelief on his face. "Why the hell would you choose Malfoy as a partner?" He asked immediately, his mouth empty for once. Glancing at his plate, Hermione saw that he hadn't eaten _at all_. Oops.

Hermione took a deep breath. "I had no partner, and he didn't either. It was a last resort," she assured as calmly as she could.

This did nothing to ease Ron. "Ok, fine. But you let him put his hands on you? You fooled around with him?"

She understood what he meant by fooled around, but not by the hands thing. He hadn't really touched her more than he had to- unless you count the time that he fell on her. Suddenly, Hermione was indignant. "Why does that even matter to you? You aren't my boyfriend anymore," she accused.

"I've been your best friend for seven years, Hermione. Just because we broke up doesn't mean I don't care about you. And I DO care about you playing into Malfoy's games," he replied heatedly.

"I know that he tends to have ulterior motives, but I'm perfectly capable of defending myself when I need to," Hermione replied cooly.

Harry decided it was a good time to put his two cents in. "I'm just worried that Malfoy is going to try to… You know… Get you in bed or something…"

Ron looked at his friend with gratitude. "If he does, that's all it's going to be, Hermione. He'll use you and then throw you away."

Hermione huffed. "I think I can handle not being weak in the knees for Draco Malfoy." With that last assertion, she left the table without having eaten anything. Deep down, she knew her friends were right. If Draco saw her, he saw her as an object, not a person. An object he could use to attain his ends and that was it. On the other hand, Hermione was good enough at defending herself. She didn't need a pair of boys standing guard over her to make her look weak.

When Draco heard the door to the common room open, he prepared to pounce. If the girl wanted sex, which she so obviously did, then it was better to do it and get it out of the way. After that, any thoughts of Hermione being cute and having a nice smell would subside. One and done. He would be able to conclude that he was not attracted to her, only sex deprived.

Hermione entered the room and began walking to her room, but Draco was soon in front of her, blocking her path. "Malfoy, I'm tired…" She said, trying to get around him. Instead of moving away, he moved towards her. Grabbing her by the hips, he pulled her body into his and swooped down to meet her lips with his. Once they made contact, he kissed her hard, one hand leaving her waist to tangle in her hair.

Though she was at first shocked, the kiss sent Hermione to a whole new world. Subconsciously, her hands fell on his chest, which was hard beneath his button up shirt. Draco used her hair to pull her in closer, his lips now moving faster. It was a kiss unlike any she had ever experienced. As she opened her mouth to try to get in a breath, Draco shot his tongue into her mouth, something Ron had certainly never done. Inside her mouth, his tongue tried to play with hers, and hers unconsciously joined him. His hands roamed her body hungrily, slipping down below her waist to grab her ass cheek-

That was when Hermione opened her eyes and shoved the boy away from her. As he staggered back, the boy looked appalled. "What the fuck, Granger?"

She whipped her mouth on her sleeve before crossing her arms in front of her chest. "I'll not have you forcing yourself on me, Malfoy."

With that, the boy approached her, but she held her ground. His eyes were now dancing playfully as he stared into hers. He was close, close enough to grab her again- but Hermione showed no signs of fear. That would be letting him win. "Granger, your whole body screams to be fucked by me. I know that's what you want," he said in a slow, sexy drawl. His lips were now close enough to kiss her again, but he seemed to be standing on the edge of that line, waiting for her to take action and just admit that what he said was true.

Instead, Hermione scowled, disgusted. "You think I want to have sex with you? Not if you were the last person on Earth." Then she pushed by him, leaving him standing in the middle of the common room, utterly dumbfounded. It was like she had just slapped him in the face. No girl had ever resisted him like that before.

But had she really resisted him? No, she had liked the kiss, he was sure of it. Otherwise, she would have pulled away faster. So why didn't she want sex with him? Or, why was she refusing to have it? It must be a game with her. She was a Gryffindor lioness, and taking over her body would be not satisfy that animal. Yes, that was it. She wanted more control before she did anything. Merlin, she was complicated.

Heading back to his own room, Draco thought about the kiss. It had felt like no other kiss he had ever experienced, and there was no doubt that he wanted to do it over and over. He wanted those beautiful, full lips to scream his name… He wanted her in his bed, giving herself to him like she had never given herself to Weasley…

But of course, he didn't want her because he was attracted to her, he reminded himself. He wanted these things because his hormones had not had an outlet in quite a while. He needed sex, and she would be the one to satisfy it.

Realistically, he could march down to the Slytherin dungeons at that moment and please himself with any girl he wanted- but they wouldn't make it a game, not like Granger had. She was entertaining him, actually making him harder by denying him. Oh, he would have her. He had to.

Laying down in her bed, Hermione touched her lips. Only minutes before, Draco Malfoy had forced his lips onto hers, but she couldn't say that it had been unpleasant. In fact, every part of her body that he had touched was still tingling from the experience, aching to feel his hands again. The kiss had been something Ron would never have achieved. She felt like her whole body was on fire.

Taking a deep breath, she tried her best to push away the memory of the kiss, but it was not easily done. God, it had been so hot. But, as predicted, Draco had had motive- he wanted her in bed, and that was something she couldn't let him do. She couldn't allow herself to be used, to be another one of the many girls he fucked and then threw away. No. Draco Malfoy was incapable of love, and she could not just lay herself down for a boy who didn't even respect her.

But there was still one thing that worried Hermione as she drifted off with this resolve- the more she denied him, the hungrier he might become.

* * *

Hey guys! Sorry that this chapter is shortish- I had written the chapter already an entirely different way but I decided to scrap it. It portrayed the characters unrealistically and I feel this is much better. Hope you guys liked the kiss ;) -E


	10. Potions

Potions was the first class on a bright Monday morning in October, something that Draco had very much been looking forward to. Between Quidditch practices which had recently begun and the immense piles of homework, he had found it hard to work on achieving his end game. Now, however, he had a plan in mind. He had done a lot of thinking about exactly the kind of person that Hermione Granger was. One thing that he reasoned was that she probably would be harder to convince if they stayed on the terms they were on. She wanted to give herself up to someone she trusted, someone she loved. Draco seriously doubted that she was anything but a virgin. So, he had to gain her trust.

And with that came- shiver- friendship.

When Hermione walked into Potions, she glanced around with dismay and saw that neither Harry nor Ron had arrived yet, meaning she would have to take an empty desk and wait for one of them. What she had not been expecting was for Draco to take the seat next to her wordlessly.

"If you so much as touch me," she muttered. "I will file harassment charges."

At this, Draco scoffed. "Don't worry, I'll keep my hands to myself. Can't say my eyes will be able to stay away from you, though. After all, you're looking ravishing today." With that, he winked. It was a little disquieting, but she blushed nevertheless before she turned back to her work station. What was he up to now? If only the mere thought of him looking at her like that would make her feel sick- then she would stop blushing whenever he said something like that. But the kiss they had shared still lingered on her lips, making her ache for more. She knew she couldn't give it to him. Though it would feel right in the moment, she would only hurt herself in the end. She might become too attached to someone who was only going to cut her loose.

Professor Slughorn got the attention of the class and informed them that the potion they were going to make that day, Draught of Fear, would be a team effort with the person they were standing next to. At this, Hermione eyed Draco, who smiled back at her pleasantly. "Furthermore," continued Slughorn. "This potion will require three classes worth of work. Instructions are on page 46!"

Most of the class groaned, including Hermione. Three classes stuck with the Slytherin man whore? How much worse could her luck get?

"Do you want me to get the ingredients?" Draco asked her, breaking her away from her thoughts of self pity.

"Uh, yes," she said, flipping to the correct page in her book. With that, Draco strode off to the supply closet. Even though he had had the opportunity, Hermione noted, he hadn't brushed up against her when he passed. Was he actually going to respect her today?

He returned soon enough, arms full of everything that they would need for the next three days. Hermione had already lit the flame underneath their now shared cauldron and had added the water, which first needed to come to a boil. While they waited, Hermione checked the list of ingredients against the list that Draco had brought back.

"Hang on, you've gotten toad's skin instead of frog's," she said, picking up the mistake.

Draco shook his head. "Toad's skin is a good substitute. It'll take a few extra minutes to dissolve, but it eliminates the use of gorilla urine," he explained, as if this were no big deal.

Hermione couldn't help but look a bit surprised. "And how do you know this?"

The boy shrugged. "Professor Snape always gave me little tips like that." Then he shot her a smile and turned back to their cauldron. It wasn't an evil smile either, but a sincere, nice smile. Hermione was left speechless for several seconds before she managed to get a hold of herself.

"So, do you want to add the squid eyes or should I?" She asked casually, glancing at him sideways.

He smirked. "The water isn't done boiling yet, Granger. Little anxious, are we?"

"Of course not," she asserted, straightening. "I simply meant after the water was done."

"In that case, you can do it if you want. Those slimy things always skeeve me out a little," he replied casually.

Hermione stared at him in disbelieve. "I don't believe it, Draco Malfoy is scared of squid eyes?"

He rolled his eyes. "Not scared, you -" he started, but stopped himself from calling her a crude name. "Granger. See?" He picked up the eyes and plopped them into the cauldron, then gazed at her triumphantly.

She let out a small laugh, and his face fell a little. "Water's not done yet, remember?"

"Whatever," he muttered. That had been stupid of him.

Hermione glanced into the cauldron and began stirring. "If this doesn't come out right now, I'm blaming you."

"It will, don't you worry," he said, though he thought it wasn't a good comeback at all. He sure hoped that he was breaking down some sort of walls here; after all, he had just made himself look stupid. Maybe the girl would pity him enough to sleep with him. Nah, pity sex wasn't what he wanted.

"You know, Granger, I've got a few more tricks up my sleeve if you want me to show you sometime," he said softly, leaning in closer as she added the toad's skin to the potion.

"And would those tricks involve me naked?" She asked coolly, not looking up at him.

He raised his eyebrows in mock surprise. "I was referring to potion making, but if you've got other things in mind I'd be happy to-"

"Potions, of course," she interrupted, blushing furiously. Draco certainly was getting to her, even if he wasn't trying to at the moment. "Potions. That's what you meant."

"You're quite the mad blusher, Granger," he noted. "Might want to be careful, someone might think you're actually attracted to me." He caught her eye and winked before turning away to look over his textbook.

"Quite impossible, I can assure you," Hermione murmured, though she knew in her heart of hearts that it was a complete lie. His wink alone had made her pulse race furiously, a feeling Ron had hardly ever been able to give her. Boy, was she in deep. She needed to recover. "I would… Appreciate it, if you showed me. Your notes, on potion making."

Draco turned to her and cocked an eyebrow, meanwhile reaching to stir their potion. "I shall share my notes with you tonight then."

Later on, Draco climbed down the stairs to their common room, where Hermione was curled up with the day's homework. In his hand, he carried a stack of notes that he had copied from Professor Snape over the years. When Hermione saw the stack, she raised her eyes in surprise. "There's that many loopholes that I don't know about?"

Draco smiled smugly, taking a seat across from her. "Not all of this, I'm afraid. But they're all mixed in here and there."

Hermione reached out her hand for them, causing Draco to chuckle. She furrowed her brow. "What's so funny?"

"I have a condition," he replied, reclining on the couch.

"Sorry to hear about that, is it contagious?" She asked, knowing clear well what he meant.

One of his eyebrows shot up. "Think you're funny, Granger? I meant, there's something you must agree to before I hand them over."

"No," she replied, turning back to her work.

"You don't even know what I was going to-"

"Knowing you, I know just what it's going to be," she retorted angrily, not looking up at him. "I should've known that you couldn't just-"

"Hang on," he interrupted. "It's nothing like that." Hermione glanced up to see his face not full of amusement, but sincerity. "I just wanted you to agree to spend a day in Hogsmeade with me this weekend," he explained.

Hermione was taken aback. "And why do you want me to do that?"

"So I could get to know you, and you me," he replied, studying her face.

She swallowed, unsure of his true intentions. Was this some sort of nice guy or sympathy card he was playing? She would have to tread carefully… "Alright, a day at Hogsmeade," she agreed slowly.

He flashed her a real smile before handing over his notes. "See? I'm not all bad…"

Hermione's face struggled to flash darkly, since her stomach was still flipping over the wattage of his smile. "I swear, Draco, if you're trying to pull a fast one on me…"

"Not at all," he replied, his heart skipping a beat at the sound of his first name. He tried to keep his eyes on her face and keep the sincere look going. "I wouldn't dare." He gave her a small wink before strolling off to bed. Boy, he sure seemed to like winking. She just hoped he didn't know how her heart skipped a beat every time he did.

Sitting there on the couch, Hermione bit her lip. She was so conflicted. She wanted to believe he was really trying hard to be nicer, not just trying to mess with her head. But who knew what he was really up to?

It was going to be a long year, that was for sure.

* * *

Hey guys! Thanks again for all the lovely reviews! I don't know if it's real or photoshopped, but the other day I saw a pick online of Tom Felton holding a paper that said he shipped Dramione. I practically screamed, sure hope it's real! -E


	11. Something You Can't Un-See

Nearly a week had passed before Hermione admitted to her friends her plans for the weekend. When she told them, Ron's pumpkin juice sprayed from his mouth onto his poor sister, who was unfortunately seated directly across from him. "YOU'RE WHAT?" he cried in between choking noises.

"Ron!" cried Ginny, who sprang up to go and get cleaned up before first class. It was Friday morning, the day before the mysterious Hogsmeade trip she would be taking. She had been considering not telling her friends at all, but they definitely would have found out one way or another. If they found out from a source that wasn't her, they would only be angrier. It was best to get it over with.

"Is your head still attached to your body, Hermione?" Harry asked, incredulous.

Hermione huffed. "I don't know what you're all making a fuss over. It's not like we're going out on a _date._ "

"You might as well be!" cried Ron, drawing the attention of several more people at the table.

"Really, Hermione," Harry said cautiously. "Why the sudden change in attitude? He's been a right foul git for years now, and suddenly it's like the past doesn't even matter anymore to you."

"Of course it matters," she explained, turning to Harry. "But, I don't know… if what he's doing is trying to start fresh, or at least be nicer, I'm going to let him. The past is still very much present, and I know to be cautious."

"Malfoy, changing?" Ron said with a sneer. "Just the other day I saw him bullying some poor third year. He hasn't changed a bit, he's just trying to mess with you!"

"And if he is trying to, it isn't working," Hermione asserted, though she knew that that wasn't entirely true. "I promise, Ron, you don't have to worry."

Ron mumbled something under his breath, but returned to his now juice-drenched meal. Harry stared at her thoughtfully for another few seconds before turning towards his own food. Though she appreciated their concern, their overprotectiveness was starting to get a bit annoying. After all, it was just a casual day in Hogsmeade. A simple situation that she could certainly handle.

~THE NEXT MORNING~

She certainly could not handle this.

Draco Malfoy knocked on her door, which she opened that morning to find him standing there, holding _flowers_. She promptly threw him a look of disgust. "What are those for?"

His brow furrowed. "You. Thought you would appreciate a friendly gift. Guess not." With a small flick of his wand, the flowers vanished. He looked her over, and she was suddenly self conscious of the fact that she was still wearing her pajamas. "I'll be in the common room whenever you decide to get ready," he commented sassily before vanishing down the staircase, fully dressed in what apparently he considered casual wear.

Flowers? Was he serious? Even if he had meant it as a friendly gift, who the hell did that? That was the kind of thing men gave to their girls when they came to pick them up for dates. She had not been mentally prepared for that. A part of her wished he hadn't gotten rid of the flowers; they had, after all, been quite lovely.

Downstairs, Draco mentally kicked himself. The flowers had been too forward. He had at first thought them playful, that she would have blushed at the sight of them and accepted them graciously. Apparently, Hermione wasn't like other girls. But he already knew that.

Glancing at his designer watch, he saw that it was almost ten. What was she still doing in her pajamas? He thought he had given her ample time to get ready, but apparently she slept in late on the weekends… either that, or she wasn't really looking forward to their day together.

Inexplicably, Draco was. He didn't have a plan, for once- he was just going to wing it and try to gain some of her trust by feigning a nice guy. The thought of her finally submitting to him must've been what was driving him. The sight of her in her pajamas had only increased his anxiousness. Her tank top, stooping to show cleavage…

Finally, Hermione came out of her room, dressed and ready to go. She had on a pair of jeans and a cream colored sweater, over which she wore a warm-looking green coat. Draco's eyes were drawn to her hair, which fell in soft curls over her shoulders. She sighed, bringing his eyes to meet hers. "Ready," she said, starting to head out of the room. When Draco stood to follow her, she stopped, as if with an afterthought. "Thank you for the flowers. They were a nice thought," she breathed, avoiding his gaze. Then she continued on, Draco following behind. His walk was a bit more triumphant now; perhaps he had actually done something right.

As they made their way out of the castle and down the path to Hogsmeade, neither said a word to the other. Hermione, on one hand, had little desire to speak. Draco, on the other, had hardly a clue what to say. "Do you fancy a butterbeer?" he finally said aloud as they neared the entrance to the village. Hermione merely nodded, and walked beside him to The Three Broomsticks. On the way there, the pair received many odd looks from fellow students. Draco had the strong desire to flip them all off, but smartly kept his expression emotionless as they walked.

After they had both sat down with their butterbeers, Draco decided it was time to spark up conversation. "So, tell me about your parents," he said, causing Hermione to nearly choke on her drink.

She set it down and shot him a confused look. "Draco Malfoy, prejudice against the mere notion of a muggle, wants to know about my parents?"

Draco shrugged, acting as though it didn't matter anymore. In truth, he hadn't had a mean thought about muggles or muggle borns for about a month or so. The fact that he desperately wanted to shag one of them was probably hint enough at that.

Taking a deep breath, Hermione stuck her hands in the pockets of her coat to warm them. "Well, they're both dentists. Which means they clean and take care of people's teeth," she explained. Although Draco knew what a muggle dentist was, he thought that pointing this out might appear rude and would detract from his overall purpose.

"And you, did you want to be one as well?" He asked slowly. "Before, you know, the witchcraft and everything…"

Hermione shook her head resolutely. "No, it never appealed to me. Not that I think less of their profession, but I always wanted something, you know, more…"

"Thrilling?"

Hermione nodded. "Something like that."

"So what do you want to be, then?"

She pondered this for a moment, wondering if she should tell him about her campaigns for the rights of elves. Deciding against this, she picked another idea that had been floating around her head. "Well, I thought I might get a job in the Ministry. I like to think that perhaps someday I could be Minister."

She was surprised when he did not laugh out loud at this, but an amused expression did cross his face. "Minister, huh? Definitely more exciting than drilling into people's mouths."

In spite of herself, Hermione laughed. "Well, what about you? What are your ambitions?"

Rubbing off some of the water condensation on his mug, Draco shrugged. "I have a rich uncle who owns a huge company in Germany, and he's offered me a position directly under him. He says I could inherit the company some day," he admitted, eyes trained on his mug.

"That's very cool. Not many have opportunities like that," the girl across from him commented.

 _Not many people are Malfoys,_ he almost replied, but he bit his tongue. So far, he had been doing a fine job of not appearing like an ass.

After taking a sip of her butterbeer, Hermione bit her lip, a question forming just behind it. "So, Draco…" At the sound of his first name, his eyes shot up to meet hers. God, he loved how she said it. It rolled off her tongue like melted butter and it was just as sweet. "Why did you really ask me to Hogsmeade?"

Draco mentally went through many answers to the question, not completely sure which one she would want to hear. "I wanted to get to know you better, like I said," he explained. "You're intriguing to me."

Hermione laughed shortly. "Intriguing because I refused sex?"

Draco's face turned slightly pink, something that did not go unnoticed by the girl across from him. He quickly tried to recover, however, and his face was brought back to its normal color with an arched eyebrow. "Think you're clever, eh Granger?"

"See? That's one reason right there," she said, leaning across the table and resting her arms on it. "You can't even call me by my first name. Why would I give myself to someone who doesn't respect me enough to use my name?"

At this, Draco scoffed. "I can too call you by your first name, _Hermione_ ," he said poignantly. It felt weird saying her name out loud. In all his memory, he could only ever remember calling her by her last name. Shit, this was going to take a lot of getting used to.

"Better," she said passively.

Draco grinned. "You're really close to me, _Hermione_." With a start, Hermione realized that they had been slowly leaning forward across the table towards each other. Standing, her chair was shoved backwards, loudly scrapping the wooden floor. "Shall we go looking for Christmas presents, then? I really must start my shopping."

The boy stood slowly, grabbing both of their mugs from the table. "Yes, of course." As he went to the front of the pub to return the glasses, Hermione allowed herself to blush profusely. They had been getting rather close to each other, and if he hadn't said anything, who knows if they would've stopped in time. "Are you getting hot with that jacket on? Want me to carry it for you?" Draco asked, appearing next to her once more. Shaking her head, Hermione avoided eye contact and lead the way out of the pub. Luckily, the cold air from outside helped to return her face to its normal color.

Walking side by side again, they made their way to Honeydukes, where Hermione could grab some sweets to add to the presents of her best friends. "Do you buy presents for your friends?" Hermione asked while browsing a shelf of assorted fudges.

"Not usually. I only get gifts for my parents. Gift giving isn't huge in the Slytherin dorms," he admitted beside her. Hermione felt a small pang of pity for him, and resolved to get him something small. As they left the sweet shop and entered a new store, Draco decided to make small talk again. "So, are you going to the Quidditch match this week?"

Hermione, who had completely forgotten that there was a match scheduled, racked her brain to try to remember who was playing who. "Er, of course… it's Slytherin versus Hufflepuff, right?"

"Close. Ravenclaw," he corrected as they entered the store, the bell above them jangling.

"I'm all thrown off, the first match is usually Gryffindor and Slytherin," she replied, making an excuse for herself.

"It was time for a nice mix-up, I suppose," he commented. "Who will you be supporting?"

Hermione scrunched up her nose as she browsed the rows of Quidditch supplies, trying to find something new to get either of her friends. "Is that even a question?"

"Ah, of course. I was hoping to win over another fan, but I should've remembered how stubborn you are with your ways."

Hermione turned to him and crossed her arms. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Draco shrugged. "I thought that friends would support friends, but you'd rather stick with your old views of how cruel and vile I am."

Scoffing, Hermione rolled her eyes. "We aren't friends."

"Working on that, sweetheart," he said, turning to the items for sale beside him.

Hermione wasn't even sure how to respond to that. The fact that he had called her sweetheart really made her shiver- and it wasn't because she was cold or repulsed. Instead of throwing a comment back at him about how becoming friends was unlikely, she too turned back to the items. She eventually ended up giving up on the store after finding nothing suitable. They had known each other for years, she needed new and interesting things to give them… perhaps she would have more luck on a later date, when she wasn't so… distracted.

"I think we should start heading back," she eventually suggested, after she had had zero luck in several other shops. "I still have mountains of homework to finish this weekend, and I'm sure you'd like to get some practicing in before your match…"

Draco cocked an eyebrow at her. "I'd like to get the practicing in if I know you'll be supporting me," he said slyly.

Hermione sighed, then pumped her fist into the air unenthusiastically. "Go, Slytherin!" she said feebly. This elicited a laugh from Draco, which in turn caused Hermione to crack a smile.

He flashed her a smile and they began walking the long road back to the castle. "Sure is cold out here today," Hermione muttered at one point.

"If I give you my jacket, will you give me a kiss?"

"Keep your hands off of me," she warned, adding a little bit of space between her and the boy, looking around for someone to yell to if he tried anything. Unfortunately, there was no one around. The path was deserted except for them.

"Relax, my hands are staying in their pockets," he said calmly, rolling his eyes. "Do I really disgust you that much?" With that, he stopped and stood still in the middle of the path, forcing Hermione to stop as well.

"No…" she began, unsure what excuse she would make. "But… I have… boundaries, boundaries you don't seem to want to respect."

He grinned. "Never was one to stand behind a line that I could cross." They were facing each other, their breath turning to vapor and mixing in front of their faces. He leaned in a little bit closer, and Hermione knew that this was her sign to move away. But for some reason, she didn't. Her brain was screaming at her about what a terrible idea it was, but her feet were staying firmly planted. "Sometimes," he continued. "I simply like to toe the line."

Draco closed the gap with just his mouth and his lips landed softly on hers. His hands stayed in his pockets, as he was, essentially, _toeing the line she had made_ …

The kiss was soft and sweet, lasting only for a few seconds before he pulled away. Hermione opened her eyes to find his stone-gray ones staring straight at her. "Fuck you," she whispered breathlessly.

"If that's what you want, dear," he replied, winking. He turned away from her and was about to continue walking when he stopped and quickly drew his wand, pointing it just down the path towards the castle. Panic rising inside her, Hermione turned to see what he was pointing it at.

Ron was standing in the middle of the path, frozen with his wand out, his face redder than the hair on his head.

* * *

Woo! It's been quite a week for me so far, sorry that it's been a few days since the last update. I don't know about you guys, but I _really_ like the direction this is heading in ;) -E


	12. Truth

Before Hermione could say anything, Ron sent a stunning spell straight at Draco, who blocked it expertly. She hated how amused he looked at the situation.

"WHAT-" another spell, blocked- "THE FUCK, HERMIONE!"

She opened her mouth to explain, but realized she didn't know how to. She could say he had forced himself upon her, which was definitely true, but she hadn't exactly resisted.

"What's the matter, Weasel? Jealous?" Draco said playfully, only using his wand for defensive spells.

"You kept telling me you could handle him, that you wouldn't let him get to you!" Ron yelled to Hermione, face still bloodred. "All this time I've been standing back, trying to let you handle it yourself, when the only thing you've really been doing is snogging him?!"

"It...It's not like t-that…" Hermione stuttered, mortified.

"Oh yeah? Then what is it like? Oh wait, is he secretly your boyfriend?"

"NO!" she yelled back angrily. "He most certainly is not! He tricked me into kissing him!"

Draco glanced at her, an eyebrow raised. "Did I now?"

With a snap, Hermione's hand connected with his face and sent him stumbling backwards. She had finally broken out of the trance that his kiss had put her in. Without another word, she marched past Ron, who was looking a bit confused, and headed straight back to the castle.

She stayed in her room for the rest of the evening, not even bothering to head down for dinner. She didn't want to face anyone. She was thoroughly sick of Draco's mind games and she certainly didn't know what she would say to Ron. Suddenly, there came a rough knocking at her door.

Rolling over on her bed, Hermione ignored the noise that had certainly come from her Slytherin neighbor. Yet when the knocking came again, it was followed by Harry's voice, telling her to open up. Realizing that he was yet another person she would have to try to explain things to, she rose uneasily and went to open the door. As soon as it opened, Harry bounded into her room and shut the door behind him. He looked a tad angry, but mostly confused.

"Do you want to explain to me what's been going on with you?"

Crossing her arms, she avoided his gaze and instead inspected the carpet of her room. "You said it yourself, Malfoy's been trying to get to me-"

"And from what I hear," Harry cut in. "You haven't exactly been resisting him." He stepped closer to her and rested his hand on her arm, pulling her gaze up to his face. "Don't tell me-"

"It's bloody hard, alright?" Hermione burst out, tears welling in her eyes. "I know what he's trying to do and I know his intentions and my head knows that the right thing to do is to ignore him and everything but the rest of me can't help it, I don't know what it is!"

Wrapping her in a hug, Harry attempted to calm her down by keeping his mouth shut for a minute or two. When her tears had finally slowed, he pulled back and studied her face. "You feel… attracted, then? To him?"

Hermione nodded slowly. "No matter how hard I try, I always seem to give in to him. He kissed me today, not even roughly. I could have pulled away easily, but I didn't and I hate myself for it," she explained, trying with all her might to keep from crying again.

Harry took a deep breath. "You're one of my best friends, Hermione, so I know that he's been overwhelming to you. You're going to hate me for saying this, but I _know_ that you don't have experience with someone like him. Someone who makes all of this out to be a game. I don't blame you for being drawn in, and Ron doesn't either."

"He does though, I know he does!" Hermione sobbed back.

"No, this anger he's got is all directed at Malfoy. He doesn't blame you, even if he's having a hard time focusing his anger," Harry argued softly.

Wiping her face with her hands, Hermione took a shuddering breath. She looked up at Harry earnestly, hopefully. "What can I do, Harry?"

"I know you've been trying to give him a chance, but I think he's had enough of a chance by now," Harry said slowly, thinking carefully about what he was saying. "I think the best way to get out of his trap is to avoid and ignore him. Eventually, he'll give up at whatever he's playing at and you won't be stuck anymore."

For a moment, they both remained still and quiet. Then Hermione reached out and hugged Harry again, resting her forehead on his shoulder. "And if he needs hexing, let me know," Harry added solemnly, causing Hermione to crack a smile.

"I don't deserve a friend like you, Harry," she whispered through her hair.

He pulled her in tighter. "It's us who doesn't deserve you, Hermione. I don't know how you've been able to even try giving Malfoy a second chance. You're a far bigger person than both of us," Harry said, referring to himself and Ron. There was a pause. "Heard you slapped him. Was it hard?"

Hermione let out a laugh. "He almost fell over."

~LATER THAT NIGHT~

Draco sat up in his bed, staring out the window. Earlier, he had been in the bathroom when he heard Hermione and Harry talking in the room next door. There had been crying and gross feelings had been talked about. And the final verdict had been reached- she would now be trying to ignore him.

The slap she had given him earlier hadn't hurt so much as it had surprised him. Afterall, she had punched him much harder only a few years ago…

He wasn't quite sure how to feel about the whole situation, but it made him… uneasy. Earlier, in Hogsmeade, they had been laughing and joking together- Draco had actually enjoyed being with her. And the kiss… it hadn't been long, but damn, a fire had sure ignited in his stomach when his lips met hers. And she hadn't resisted… he knew that she subconsciously desired his kisses, and that stupid brain of hers always told her to fight back. The slap was proof enough of that.

Now that she certainly wasn't going to be being friendly towards him anymore, it was going to be a whole lot harder to continue with his current course of action. She didn't trust him, and she probably never would. It was all her stupid brain. If he wanted to take her, he'd have to make sure that he stimulated her subconscious desires so much that they overpowered the rational thinking of her head. And that would certainly not be easy.

As the next few days past, Draco had little to no luck at all. She didn't speak to him in any classes, merely nodded or ignored him when he spoke to her. He had had one particularly nasty experience, in which he had tried to rest his hand on her back in Potions and had consequently been shot backwards into the table beside his own, spilling part of Dean Thomas' potion on himself. He had then spent the rest of the day in the hospital wing and they had both been given a detention for the following week.

Though he tried to explain his disappointment in other ways, a small part of him nagged him constantly that he actually missed her. He enjoyed talking to her, teasing her, and, most of all, kissing her. Now she was distant and angry, and that made him feel almost sad. She had such a pretty smile, but it had laid dormant in front of him for over a week. The only time he saw it was when she was with her friends at the Gryffindor table for breakfast or lunch. He watched her and her friends, who had seemingly gotten over the fact that he had kissed her. When he saw her smile, a little pang of sadness rose in his heart, which was something he couldn't explain and didn't want to try to. He didn't want to have those thoughts, thoughts that he actually might want her for more than one shag. Draco Malfoy didn't do relationships.

The longer they remained distant, however, the more Draco became frustrated with her and himself for his stupid feelings. He had never been hooked onto a girl, and it was making him feel like a fool. How could a Gryffindor muggle born possibly have this sort of effect on him?

As he was heading out to the Quidditch pitch one afternoon for practice, however, he bumped into the distracted looking girl. Instead of throwing him off of her, her eyes met his and she apologized, then looked surprised, as if her own words had shocked herself. She stood there for another moment, looking into his eyes, before walking away. Just hearing her voice had made his heart leap, and he hated it. But he didn't hate it. What was wrong with him?

Hermione sat on the ledge of the window of her room, staring out at the Slytherin players who were practicing. She had purposely missed the last match, not desiring to see any extra of Draco. Only a few moments ago, she had been caught off guard and had bumped into him. With a slip of her tongue, she had apologized, but it was what she saw in his eyes that surprised her. He had looked genuinely sad, which surely couldn't have anything to do with her. Could it?

It was freaking hard to ignore Draco and act like she didn't ache for his touch. If only he had good intentions… His eyes. She kept coming back to them. It was like he had actually been missing her. She couldn't deny that the part of her that wanted to kiss him was missing him. She was even missing his playful innuendos… they only intensified the feelings of desire that she had. What the hell was wrong with her?

~THE NEXT NIGHT~

It was the night where they were to serve their detention, and neither were really looking forward to it. For Draco, it was almost painful how bad he wanted something he now knew he wouldn't be getting. For Hermione, ignoring him was the hardest part.

Professor Slughorn instructed them to go into the supply cabinet and sort out the expired materials, then make a list of all the new supplies to order. "When you've finished, come and find me," he said, exiting the long closet. The walls inside were lined with row upon row of bottles, so the job would not exactly be a quick one. Each began on a different side, doing their best to ignore each other.

That is, until Draco decided he was sick of the silence. "I liked talking to you," he said quietly. Though Hermione visibly stiffened, she made no reply. Draco continued. "I liked laughing with you. I liked making you laugh. And making you blush," he added, staring hard at her back.

Still, she kept her mouth shut. "I don't do this," he admitted. "The whole relationship thing. I know that's probably why you want to stay away from me. I can't give you a promise. All I know is that you aren't like any other girls. Other girls don't keep me on the edge of my seat."

Hermione set down her quill and closed her eyes, keeping her back turned to him. If she turned around, she'd be letting him win. Win what, she didn't know.

"I want you more than I've ever wanted anyone. And I can't promise that I'll keep wanting you, but right now, you're all I want. And I know that you want me too." Draco took a step so that he was right behind the girl. "I can't give you a relationship. But I can give you the best night of your freaking life." Just being near to her, saying all these things, Draco felt a strain in his pants. He had taken a risk and just been honest with her. He knew that she hated the games that he played. It was time to give her the truth. All she had to do was turn around and he would kiss her so hard that she wouldn't want to ever come up for air. That was what he needed. "You're beautiful, and I need you, Hermione."

Hermione shivered. She was being trapped with no way out. The minute she turned around, he would be on her. He was making her wet between the legs, and she knew that once she gave in there would be no stopping. She needed to get out. She needed to escape.

With all the calmness she could muster, Hermione pushed past him and left the closet, heading straight for her dormitory. Draco was dumbfounded for a moment. She had just left? In the middle of a detention, no less?

Enough was enough, he decided. He had just been completely open and honest and she had still walked away. It was time that he take what he wanted. She wouldn't be able to resist him any longer. Fuming, Draco rushed out of the closet and followed her back to their common room.

* * *

Ok, not terribly long, but it's leading up to something good... I have to warn you guys, this is where the rating of Mature will start to come into play. Hope you all know what you're in for, and that you like it! Thanks for reviewing!-E


	13. Just A Bit Reckless

The entrance to the common room appeared and he entered it only moments after she did. Quite angry, he approached the girl, who was now standing with her arms crossed in the middle of the room. "Enough is enough-"

"I agree," Hermione said simply, causing Draco to pause in front of her. "You will take off your pants and you will not lay a finger on me."

Taken aback, Draco raised both eyebrows. "Excuse me?"

"You heard what I said. You want me? You're playing by my rules now," she said cooly. As she had been rushing back to the common room, a sudden recklessness had come over her. The sexual tension between them was constantly palpable, and it was time that she make things easier on herself. She wanted him, there was no denying it anymore. And he, for once, had been honest with her about his intentions. Fuck it, she figured. If she was going to do it, she was doing it her way. It was inevitably going to spiral into the sexual range anyways. All she had to do was get it over with and then he would leave her alone and she would stop thinking about him constantly.

Looking at her curiously, Draco undid his belt and zipper before sliding his pants down and stepping out of them. Now he was only in a black shirt and his boxers. And well, his shoes. Figuring he probably looked stupid, he quickly slid those off too. His heart was beating a mile a minute. What was she going to do?

Once his pants and shoes were off, Hermione began undoing the buttons on her sweater. She removed it to reveal a rather plain pink bra (hey, she hadn't known what the evening's activities would be!) Draco, eyes swimming hungrily, took a step forward, but she quickly raise a fist in front of his face angrily. "You. Will. Not. Touch. Me." she repeated, standing her ground.

"You think you're in charge of me?" he challenged.

"If you want anything from me tonight, I am," she replied, arms crossing against her stomach. This only served to accentuate her breasts, which he had to say, were fucking spectacular. Slowly, Draco's hands fell to his sides and he stood, watching her to see what she would do next. "I have conditions that you must agree to," she continued.

He groaned. Leave it to her to put rules on sex. "What?"

"Outside of this dorm, we have to act like I never stopped ignoring you. Nobody, and I mean nobody, is allowed to know. If I find out you told someone, I'll make your life a living hell," she threatened.

"You know, you're almost not worth it, sweetheart," Draco replied lazily.

Hermione took a step towards him so that she was dangerously close to his face. "But I am," she whispered silkily. Oh, how he wanted to lean down and kiss her...

Slowly, the girl fell to her knees in front of him, her eyes never leaving his. It was like her gaze was issuing a challenge to touch her. He would, but he would wait until the right moment to take control again. He was curious to see what was on her mind.

Suddenly, her hand was rubbing his package through his boxers, right there in the middle of the common room. He took a deep breath in as the thin fabric slowly slid down his legs and his cock sprang out in front of her. He grinned with pleasure at her widened eyes when she laid eyes on it. "Big enough for you, Granger?" She merely glanced up at him before looking back at it. Of course, it was fucking huge. This was either going to be a painful mistake or mind blowing.

Taking a single finger, she ran it down the side of his cock, causing it to only grow harder. Fuck, even her smallest touch drove him insane. "Agree," she commanded softly.

"Fine," Draco allowed. "No one will know."

"Perfect," she whispered before wrapping her entire hand around the base of his cock. She began slowly rubbing it, bringing her hand up and down while twisting it. He had to admit, it felt amazing. It was probably just his hormones, he was probably just really really horny. She was a virgin, she couldn't really be that good at this. She continued pumping it with her hand for a minute before she leaned forward and did something even more expected. She allowed her tongue to trace the tip of his cock in a slow pattern, causing Draco to elicit an unwarranted groan.

"Fuck," he breathed as she took it into her mouth, running her tongue down it along with her hand. Oh, he wouldn't last long at this rate. No girl had ever excited him this much…

Reaching down, he grabbed fistfuls of her hair. She had just started sucking faster, bringing him close to the edge when she suddenly stopped and stood, releasing him. Draco cried out in debate.

Hermione folded her hands across her chest. "You broke the rule."

Draco rolled his eyes, his body still buzzing from the high. He wanted to shove her back down there and make her finish. "I'm allowed to touch the girl I'm going to fuck right now," he replied, grabbing her by the hips.

For a split second, Hermione looked like she wasn't sure what to do. Then, with new found confidence, she pulled away from his grasp and picked up her sweater. "Not tonight you're not. You need to be a better listener if you want anything else from me," she said with authority, buttoning up the sweater. "Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to return to detention before _I_ get in trouble." With that, she sped out of the room with her head held high.

Draco stood in the room for a minute, debating going upstairs to the bathroom to finish what she had started. Then he realized that she was horny too at the moment, and if he followed her and took control she wouldn't be able to resist. He hoped. She was, after all, unfortunately strong willed.

When Hermione arrived back to the potions closet, she breathed a sigh of relief. Slughorn was not suspicious, it seemed, that she had ever left. Stepping out of the closet, she walked across the room and pressed an ear to his door. Inside, she could hear someone scribbling on parchment. It seemed he hadn't left his office. Brilliant. She had just jumped out of detention to suck a boy's cock and didn't even get caught. She walked back to the potions closet to do the job she was actually assigned to do, mentally preparing herself to see Draco arrive any moment.

The weight of everything that had just happened suddenly weighed on her. Their spur of the moment _thing_ had been so out of character for her. Yet she realized that while it was extremely scandalous, she relished in what she had just done. Not only had she been able to assume control over Draco Malfoy, but she had shown him that she was capable of giving him just as much pleasure. Even if she hadn't known she would be able to do that. In fact, she had never given a blowjob before in her life. Apparently, she wasn't half bad.

Hormones still raging, Hermione picked up the first bottle on the shelf in front of her and began checking the date. She had to control her hormones, otherwise Draco could storm in and take complete dominance over her. She couldn't sink that low. She was already giving herself to someone who had no intention of caring for her. He only cared for her body parts.

She sighed. If only she had still felt something for Ron, then she wouldn't be mixed up in all of this… Yet even as she had this thought, she was aware of the fact that she also wanted to be mixed up in it. To be mixed up with him.

Draco opened the door of the closet and stepped in. He stared at her back for a minute, waiting for her to face him. "You're not in control, Granger," he said in a low voice, though they both knew perfectly well how much of a lie it was.

She glanced over at him. "I believe I just proved that I am," she replied casually. "Also, are we back to the whole last name only thing? Just want to be on the same page."

Ignoring the question, he took a few steps and suddenly he was hovering right above her. "I'm going to take you, right now."

She snorted a laugh. Actually _snorted_. "You wish," she replied, not even looking up at him.

Draco was growing aggravated. This was not how he operated. He had just opened his mouth to speak again when she whirled around and stared at him, hard. "You liked my little gift, then?"

His forehead creased with aggravation. "You didn't even finish, you bitch."

At this, she waved a finger in front of his face. "Keep talking like that and I never will," she said silkily, making Draco's hormones rage even more. It was all he could do not to grab her and shove her up against the wall. "Besides, if you want to play the game, you need to follow the rules." She turned away as he balled his hands up at his sides. "I suggest we get started on our detention duties. Slughorn will be checking in soon, I suspect."

He almost grabbed her right then and there, but he was aware of the fact that she had more control over her hormones than he thought. She had the power to deny him, and he wouldn't be able to deal with that blow to his pride. Unsure of what to do to regain the control, he turned to his own wall of shelves and silently began checking the dates on the bottles. She was right, afterall. Getting caught by Slughorn in any kind of sexual act would spell certain doom for the both of them. The longer they remained in the same room, silent, however, the more aggravated he became. What the hell did she think she was doing? She wanted him just as much as he wanted her, why was she fooling around like this?

They spent the next hour in silence before finally finishing their job. When Draco went to turn in their lists to Slughorn, Hermione left and went straight to her dormitory. Although she had some confidence in her willpower, she wasn't sure she'd be able to survive another Draco encounter. The reason she had told him not to touch her was two fold- for one, it had denied him the ability to take control. But she had also made the rule knowing that his touch would mean she wouldn't want to stop either.

As she entered her room, she found a note on her bed.

 _Ms. Granger,_

 _You and Mr. Malfoy are to meet me during lunch break tomorrow in my office._

 _-Professor McGonagall_

Hermione swallowed hard. She hadn't even thought of McGonagall's reaction to her and Draco receiving detention. Now, she realized her position was at stake. Hermione shuddered; what if Slughorn had found out they had left? She surely would be removed as Head Girl.

Downstairs, she heard the door to the common room open. She sat on her bed, bracing herself for Draco to enter, or try to enter, her room. Sure enough, there came a knock on the door, but it wasn't at all frantic or angry-sounding. "Who is it?" she called, remembering Harry's visit.

Hermione could practically hear Draco's eye roll. "You are an idiot," he said on the other side. Without asking further permission, he opened the door and stepped into the room, slowly closing it behind him.

Although she was scared of the power he had over her, she cocked an eyebrow. "Did I invite you in?"

Draco ignored the question. "Enough's enough."

"I thought we'd only just begun," she said playfully.

As fast as lightning, Draco had pushed her onto her back on the bed and he was on top of her, pinning her down. His mouth found hers and she couldn't help but kiss him back fiercely. This was what she had been afraid of. Once his lips touched hers, she didn't want to stop kissing him. As the kiss deepened, Draco's tongue slid stealthily into her mouth and began playing with hers. As he pressed her into the bed, she felt a hard bump in his pants, rubbing against her stomach. Hermione's brain fought to win back control of her body, this was not how she wanted things to play out…

His hands began roaming her body, first sliding down her chest to rest on her breasts. As covertly as she could, Hermione reached into her back pocket and withdrew her wand, eyes still closed. She pointed the wand at his side and commanded the nonverbal spell _Stupefy_.

The effect was immediate. Draco was flung off of her onto the floor, where he landed hard on his back. She felt bad that she had to be so rough, but he had been approaching dangerous territory. Looking dazed and angry, he stood up as fast as he could. "How dare you throw me like that! You liked the kiss and you know it!" he cried out, remaining where he was and eyeing her wand.

Keeping it in her hand, she stood and approached him slowly. He stood his ground. When she was directly in front of him, she stared deep into his eyes, which couldn't help but look confused. "I did," she said softly before leaning forward to kiss him softly, quickly. It reminded her of the kiss they had shared on the way back from Hogsmeade, so soft and gentle. She pulled away carefully, leaving Draco looking utterly confused. "Now get out of my room," she commanded.

After a few seconds of intense staring, Draco resentfully began walking towards the door. Before he left, however, he turned back towards her. "Next time, you won't have your wand to save you." With that final warning, he left the room. He would never understand her. She had kissed him, thrown him to the floor, then kissed him again. She made no sense. As he sat on his own bed, he punched his pillow. He didn't understand why she wouldn't just sleep with him. It was clear she wanted to, at least. Or was she only taking a turn to mess with his head?

Either way, Draco had to come up with a plan to get her when she was completely defenseless. He would have her yet.

* * *

Ok, so there's a few things I want to talk about in this author's note. First of all, this chapter was crazy. There's a change in Hermione's character, but not an unreasonable one I think. She's always been stubborn and she's always known what she wants. I think she's just sort of done being his toy and decided that she would deal herself in on the game.

Second, I received a review from an Anon that I want to talk about regarding the Field Day chapter (which was a bit ago, but it's my fault for not making something totally clear.) What the Anon was saying was that I made the whole prefect-partner thing confusing. Were other prefects participating? What would have happened if Draco _had_ paired with the Ravenclaw? Would he have participated with her?

I know I didn't make it clear, and perhaps if I ever clean this up I'll fix it, but here's the kind of thing that I was thinking- the prefects kind of all paired up with other prefects, which is something they might have suggested as a group to do. Of course, it hadn't been required, so Draco was all ready to partner with someone else. If he had, he might of had to have his partner help him with demonstrations and then he would have to participate as her partner. This kind of gray area where they would participate but not be allowed to really win was kind of why the prefects decided to pair up with each other. Draco, having no regards for that, would have ignored it. That being said, the prefect pairs were allowed to participate in the events if they wanted to, so long as they were fair about who won and the point system. Hermione figured Draco wouldn't want to participate much, so she didn't really suggest it much.

I hope that clears things up, sorry for any confusion! Let me know what you think of the chapter! -E


	14. Night of the Raging Hormones

The next morning, Draco found that Hermione had already left the dormitory. The first time he would probably get a chance to seduce her, then, would be after the meeting with McGonagall. He hadn't cared much about the note the teacher had left for him; he knew that one measly detention wasn't going to get them kicked out of their position. The morning passed with several sightings of the girl, but no contact until they both headed towards McGonagall's office. He threw her a smirk as she opened the door for both of them, which she returned with an eye roll.

McGonagall cleared her roar as they took their seats. "Would one of you please explain to me why the Head Boy and Girl ended up in detention?"

Draco let Hermione answer that one. Without so much as a glance at him, she did. "There was an accident which resulted in quite a big mess, which Professor Slughorn mistook as a fight. I assure you, Professor, it won't happen again." Draco nodded encouragingly.

Glancing between the two of them, McGonagall thought about the story. "And that's all you have to say on the matter?"

"Yes, Professor."

"Very well," she said after a moment of deliberation. "You may go, but I better not find my Heads in this sort of trouble again. You are, after all, expected to represent the school."

"Yes ma'am," Hermione replied, standing to leave without a backwards glance at Draco. Once they were both outside the door, however, Draco pulled her into an empty neighboring classroom.

"You're welcome, by the way," she said indignantly. "In case you didn't notice, I just covered for your sorry ass."

"I think I would have liked 'sexy' better than 'sorry' in that statement," Draco replied, leaning against the door, the only way out of the room.

"You're too full of yourself," she shot back, arms crossed. There was about two feet of distance between them.

"Is that why you won't sleep with me?"

"I'll sleep with you when I want to," she retorted, an eyebrow cocked. God, he was getting a boner just looking at her. In years past, he himself would have laughed at the notion that Hermione Granger might be sexy.

"And do you want to tonight?"

Hermione thought hard about this for a moment. "If, and only if, you seduce me properly."

Draco furrowed his brow. "Excuse me? What do you mean, properly?"

She took a calculated step towards him, but did not reach out to him. "There will be no trying to take advantage of me, no unwarranted attempts to dominate me or attack me. You will bring me flowers and chocolates and you will act like a gentleman. You will listen to me and take everything slow. Do you think you can handle that, Mr. Sex God?"

Although he wanted to object, she was actually talking about letting him have her. He couldn't turn this down. "Fine. But if you still think it's funny to stop in the middle of something, I won't be forgiving," he replied, stepping forward and looking down into her eyes. With one swift movement, they would be touching. "Hermione." He loved the way her name sounded coming out, and by the way she bit her lip, he knew she liked it too. He knew she was expecting, maybe even hoping for a kiss… but he turned and left the room, leaving her there.

For the rest of the day, Hermione's head wouldn't stop spinning. Tonight was the night, and it was up to her to keep him in line. A mixture of excitement and nervousness swirled in her stomach. After all, she had never done it before, and she was about to with none other than the Slytherin Sex God. At times, Ron or Harry would give her weird looks during classes and ask why she looked so preoccupied. She would simply make up excuses about having to plan the winter ball after Christmas, which she had hardly started planning for in real life. Making a mental note to set some details in stone at the next prefect meeting, Hermione tried to turn back to her school work. It was difficult when the image of Draco's cock kept popping into her head.

At last, it was time for dinner. Hermione ate a few things, but was otherwise not very hungry. Glancing towards the Slytherin table, she saw that Draco was missing. Perhaps he was upstairs, waiting to start their night.

Taking her time, Hermione proceeded slowly to their common room after departing from her friends. It was not because she was scared about going, but she merely wanted to make him more anxious. She had to be careful, however. If she took _too_ long, he wouldn't act the way she wanted him to. His hormones would take over. If she blew him off completely, she knew that he would be livid. An angry Draco could be a scary Draco.

Finally, she entered the common room to find it covered in vases of beautiful flowers. Draco himself was lounging on the couch beside a crackling fire, a box of chocolates in his hand. When she entered, he stood and approached her in an all black suit and tie. Hermione's eyes widened, trying to take in the whole scene. Could Draco actually have the potential of being a romantic?

He was now in front of her, his eyes hungrily latched on hers. "Your chocolates, miss," he said silkily, slipping the box into her hands. He leaned down slowly and placed a soft kiss on her cheek. "I bought you something else. It's waiting for you upstairs," he whispered into her ear before pulling back slowly. "I'll be coming up in 10 minutes." She couldn't help but shiver at the sexy but soft control in his voice. He turned away and reseated himself on the couch, eyes landing once more on hers.

Realizing that she better head upstairs and prepare herself, she rushed away as calmly as she could. Once she opened the door to her room, however, her breath hitched. Hundreds of white candles were lit in her room, giving the room a flickering, romantic feeling. On her bed lay red lacy lingerie, which she assumed Draco had gotten especially for her. When had he had time to get that?

Although sexy wasn't usually her style, she slipped her clothes off, figuring the set was nicer and more expensive than anything she owned. After she had put the bra and panties on, she went to her bureau and found an appropriate dress: it was black and a bit skin tight, and the top part was held up by thin straps. She couldn't help but envision Draco sliding those straps down her shoulders…

It had a v-neck, which did reveal some cleavage, so she hardly ever wore the dress. It ended just above her knee, which was probably the only comforting thing about it. It wouldn't be quite so comforting, however, once it had been taken off of her.

There was a knock at her door, and suddenly her heart was hammering in her chest. This was it, there was no turning back. She walked across the room and turned the knob on her door. The door opened and there he was, standing in the hallway, more handsome than he had ever been. He gave her a smile, which was paired with a hungry look in his eyes. Suddenly, a knot appeared in her stomach.

"I'll just be a second," she spit out, turning and rushing into the bathroom. She had left the door open, and Draco took it upon himself to step into the room and close the door behind him. Was she getting nervous? He wasn't sure why, she looked sexier than ever in that dress… and, he was sure, the lingerie…

He waited several minutes, but the girl did not reappear. Finally, he walked over and knocked on the bathroom door. "Are you alright?" He couldn't help the genuine concern that crept into his voice.

In the bathroom, Hermione was seated in the bathtub, trying to calm herself down. Should she answer him? He sounded actually concerned for her, that was almost heartwarming. What was she doing in the first place? This had been a terrible idea… But she wanted it so badly all at once…

Since she had forgotten to answer, Draco decided to open the door. She avoided his eye contact as he stepped into the bathroom and came to sit in front of the tub. "Were you thinking it would be more fun in the shower?" He asked playfully but carefully.

She didn't respond, just squeezed her eyes shut. "What's the matter?" His voice was now soft and almost caring.

"I'm fine, I just need a minute," she replied quickly, still avoiding his eyes.

"You don't need to be afraid," he said. "I'm going to take it slow tonight, like you wanted."

Finally, she looked up at him. He was really going to comply with her wishes?

"You do want this, don't you?" His voice was careful, and it was like he was holding his breath for an answer.

Her eyes searched his. "Yes," she admitted in a whisper. She leaned forward and their lips met, him sitting crossed legged on the floor, her in the waterless bathtub. The kiss became deeper and seemed to stretch on for eternity. What scared Hermione was not what she was about to do, really, but what would happen afterwards. She would lose these sweet, little kisses because he would lose interest in her. Everything would be different between them, and they would just fall apart from each other like nothing had happened. She knew that she was only hurting herself, but it was what she wanted. She wanted the pain, if it meant she could be everything to him for just one night.

Finally, Draco pulled away from the kiss, his hands still resting politely in his lap. Their eyes met. "Can you come out of the bathtub, then, dear?"

At the term of endearment, Hermione's heart gave a little leap. They both stood and Draco caught her hand to help her out of the tub. Before she could take another step, however, she had been scooped up and he was carrying her bridal style back into her bedroom. A small laugh escaped her, causing him to grin. He set her down carefully upon her bed on her back and laid down on his side beside her.

He would have done anything to rip off her dress then and there and finally sink himself deep inside her, but he knew that if she was uncomfortable she could take control and end it easily enough. That was something he almost despised, almost liked about her. She wasn't to be pushed farther than she wanted to. The girl was smiling up at him now as his fingers began to run themselves through her hair. God, she was so beautiful. Why, in all the years they had known each other, had he never really seen that before?

Draco planted a soft kiss on her sweet lips before trailing down to her neck. Left arm supporting him on the bed, he leaned far over her body and left a love bite on the lower right of her neck, causing her to let out a small moan.

"Great, let's just let the whole world know I slept with you," she said sarcastically.

"I'll give you more," he threatened with a laugh.

"One's good," she replied, watching his head and lips descend her body. His lips were now on her chest, his right hand pressing onto her waist.

His eyes appeared as he came up for air. He watched her reaction as he slowly and carefully reached up and hooked a finger onto the right strap of her dress. Draco pulled it down her shoulder, matching the image that Hermione had had in her head earlier. She didn't say anything as he mirrored this action on her other strap. Her bra was now completely exposed, yet the dress still covered her lower half.

Although her core temperature was about a million degrees, Hermione managed to look calm and collected as Draco kissed her lips again, then traced them with a single finger. When it had completed its path, it traveled down her chin and neck to her chest. Slowly and carefully, Draco traced around each of her breasts, which only managed to excite her more. She hadn't even realized that her mouth was hanging open as she focused on him. His touch sent jolts of warmth down her spine, a feeling that she had only ever experienced in tiny and nearly insignificant amounts. His kisses were nothing compared to his touch.

With one hand, he expertly reached behind her back and unclipped her bra, even as she was still laying down. He had never taken a sexual experience this slow, and he had to admit, the rush was amazing. Every little thing that he did became a large sensation for the both of them, and simply seeing her reactions made him harder. He paused after unclipping it, to see if she would reject it or appear scared in anyway. Her eyebrows creased for a split second, but she seemed to be able to relax herself again.

Draco pulled the bra away slowly, leaving her beautiful breasts naked and exposed before him. It took an immense amount of self restraint to hold back from leaning in and devouring them with his mouth and tongue. Instead, he kept his eyes trained on hers as he repositioned himself over her. His mouth found its way down and began tracing her breasts with kisses, much like the movements of his finger. He carefully moved his mouth towards the centers before taking turns sucking on each nipple. Craving another one of her delicious moans, he bit down slightly on one.

"Oh, Draco," she whispered breathily. He was clearly exciting her. He gave her other breast attention before giving her lips another kiss.

As he pulled up again, he hovered his face directly over hers. Due to his closeness, her eyes had to move back and forth in order to be able to take in his entire face. Her lips were parted and she was starting to breathe heavily. "I'm going to finish undressing you," he whispered.

She made no reply, but as soon as he sat up to pull her dress down, she sat up as well. Not saying anything, she reached forward and pulled off his jacket and tie before she began unbuttoning his shirt. She knew she should say something that would turn him on at least half as much as he was turning her on. "God, your chest is so sexy," she breathed as she pulled his shirt away. What? That was the best she had at the moment, apparently.

With a low, animalistic growl, he pulled her into him and kissed her deeply. She ended up straddling his lap, her bare breasts pressed against his chiseled chest. As her arms wrapped around his neck and she deepened the kiss, his hands began sliding up her legs. The dress was moving upwards as well, and suddenly it became trapped in a bunch on her waist as Draco's hands found her ass cheeks. Beneath her panties, Hermione could feel the intense strain in Draco's pants and wasn't sure how much longer he would be able to resist. He had shown remarkable self control so far, but how long could that hold up?

"Fuck, Hermione," he breathed as the kiss ended and he began kissing her neck again. "You have no idea how hard it is not to take you right now."

"You've been a good boy," she said as sexily as she could. "You'll have your reward soon enough." Although she thought these words were lame, the tent in his pants seemed to push harder against her clit.

Pushing her onto her back once more, Draco finally slid the dress off her body. Now the only piece of clothing that remained was the lace panties that he had bought her. Sliding off the bed, he pulled off his shoes and socks so that he remained in only his pants. Those, he thought to himself, he wanted her to take off. Walking around to the foot of the bed, he grabbed her legs and pulled her body down toward him.

He trailed his hands down her legs, nearing the spot where she would be most sensitive. They were almost there, he could almost touch her panties…

There was a knocking noise on her door. Extremely startled, Hermione shot up into a sitting position, causing her head to bang into Draco's. He stumbled backwards, clutching his head, but was careful not to make a noise. "Hermione?" called Harry's voice from the other side of the door.

 _Fuck,_ Hermione mouthed, climbing off the bed and hastily grabbing her clothes. "One minute, I'm not dressed," she called out, clipping her bra back on. She knew she couldn't put the dress on, that would look too odd to her friend. Instead, she kicked it under the bed and rushed over to her bureau. As she pulled on a pair of pjs over her lingerie, she saw Draco hastily buttoning his own shirt, coat and tie draped over his arm. He looked extremely pissed.

After she had her pajamas on, she rushed over to Draco, who was about to slide out through the bathroom. Irritated, he turned towards her as she grabbed his arm. She kissed him hard before releasing him again and letting him slip through the door. _I'm sorry_ , she mouthed as sincerely as she could before dashing towards the desk in the room. She hastily grabbed her wand and waved away all of the candles in the room. "Coming!" She called to her friend, who was waiting patiently. She was now regretting ever having given him the password to her dorm…

As she ran towards the door to open it, the wetness that had been building in her panties rubbed against her legs. Stopping before the door, she opened it calmly. "Harry," she said as a greeting, trying to keep the annoyance out of her voice.

"What are all those flowers down there? Is Draco still trying to seduce you?" Harry inquired, raising an eyebrow at her frantic expression.

"Yeah, but I'm handling it fine. What's the matter?"

"Nothing's wrong, but Ron really needs to talk to you. I told him to come and talk to you himself, but he wanted me to come and get you, something about me being able to convince you to talk to him, or something like that…" Harry rambled.

Hermione was suddenly very glad that Harry had come instead of Ron. Who knows what his reaction to all those flowers would have been… "What's he want to talk about?"

"Honestly, I think he wants to convince you to take him back, but he said that's not the main point. So that means it's one of the points, at least," Harry replied, shaking his head slightly. "Just come and talk to him, please? I've got my cloak so we can sneak over to the Gryffindor common room."

"Can't it wait?" She groaned, thinking of all the possible things that Ron could want to say to her.

Harry looked a little taken aback. "'Mione, he's one of your best friends. He deserves to be able to talk to you."

With a sigh, Hermione stepped from her bedroom. "You're right, let's go."

As the two slipped under Harry's cloak, Draco listened at the door to his room. The fact that he had been interrupted so that she could go have a heart to heart with the Weasel made him livid. The fact that she hadn't actually turned down Potter's request to go and talk to him only added to his frustration. Couldn't she have just been rude for one night? Why did she have to think about everyone's feelings except his? Didn't she want to finish what they had started? He had played by her rules, and he still hadn't ended up satisfied...

With a huff, Draco put on his emerald silk pajamas and climbed into his own bed. Although his boner protested profusely, he didn't go into the bathroom to finish himself. That was something he never really did himself. If he wanted pleasure, someone else would give it to him. Giving it to himself? That was what the loners and losers did.

As he tried to fall asleep, images of Hermione ran through his head. Could he really satisfy himself with just one time with her? Would that really be all it took? Or was he just kidding himself?

Slowly, he drifted into an uneven sleep.

In another part of the castle, Harry was giving the password to the Fat Lady to enter into the Gryffindor common room. After they stepped inside the portrait hole, Harry handed her the cloak. "I'm heading off to bed. Just give this back tomorrow," he told her before climbing the stairs to his own dorm. In the common room in which she now stood, there were only a few people left milling about. Ron sat in the armchair he always sat in and was looking towards her hopefully.

"Hermione," he said, his eyes inviting her to come over. Although she would much rather have avoided the conversation entirely, Hermione took the chair beside him.

"Why did you decide now was a good time for a chat?" She asked tiredly.

He breathed in deeply, nervous. "It's hard to get you alone to talk, you know… I wanted to earlier, but I had to pester Harry for an hour before he finally went to get you…" It was as if he could sense that her attention was drifting, because he immediately began to get down to the point. "I think I was doing everything all wrong. When we first started dating, we had this attraction, you know? I could see it in your face that you had it too. But this year, I stopped seeing it. So I kind of panicked and tried to bring back the feeling, but I think I just kind of pushed you away. I just really want one more chance, 'Mione, to bring back that attraction. I love you, and I know that you once felt the same way about me. Please, Hermione, let me fix my mistake," he explained, pleading.

Her heart softened a little at his words. This was the kind of boy she wanted, one who acknowledged their faults and was open with her. It was just that that boy was Ron, and the pieces that should have clicked just didn't fit right…

As she opened her mouth to answer him, he added more. "I know, the whole Malfoy thing is overwhelming too. But I can help you get past that. If you won't agree to date me again, at least let me take you to that ball that you guys are planning. I'll show you that we can fit again."

Hermione waited for him to add more, but he appeared to have said all that he prepared. It was quite endearing, actually, to have gotten this long of a speech from a boy who often didn't bother stringing two thoughts together. Even though her heart was screaming for Draco, she knew she had to be ready to move on from him the moment he was done with her. Throwing herself back into a relationship wasn't a good idea, especially since she wasn't sure she felt strongly enough about Ron at all, but she could at least agree to go to the ball with him. Draco would be old news, and her heart would be free to discover what it wanted…

She sighed, looking him in the eyes. "I think going to the ball together is a great idea. I'm not sure how it will go, but I'm willing to give it a shot," she answered carefully, trying not to give him too much false hope.

He shot up from his chair. "Thank you, Hermione! I won't let you down again, I swear!"

"This is just a dance," she warned carefully.

"Of course. Just a dance," he replied, but his mind appeared to think it was anything but. She stood and he embraced her before they parted ways, Ron heading up the stairs gleefully and Hermione sliding out the portrait hole under the cloak. She wasn't sure at the moment if she was going to regret her decision, but for the time being she decided to push it from her mind.

She had hoped that she would open the door to her dormitory and find Draco in her room again, but such was not the case. Dropping the cloak on her bed, she walked down the hall and opened Draco's door a crack. She saw him in his bed, asleep on his back. As quietly as she could, she slid into his room and closed the door behind her. He wasn't snoring, but his breaths were even and steady.

Carefully, she climbed under the covers and snuggled up against him, resting her head on his chest. She wasn't sure if it was a good idea or not, but she was far too tired now to think clearly. Pulling the covers up close, she quickly fell asleep against the boy she had secretly hoped would be the one to take her to the winter ball- not Ron Weasley.

* * *

I know, I know- it's been a week since my last update. Kill me, it's alright. I guess my excuse was that I've been trying to finish my reread of the HP series before summer ended! (I was successful)

I hope this super long chapter is enough to receive your forgiveness- they almost went all the way! Soon, my pretties, very soon...

I keep forgetting to mention this, but the reason my story doesn't have a sweet story pic of Dramione or anything is because here is not letting me upload any more photos. It like glitches or something every time. I had a cute one, too, so I'm disappointed...

Anyways, thanks for the continued support, guys! Until the next update! -E


	15. Another Gift

There was something pressing on his chest. As his eyes flew open, he realized that it was only Hermione, who was sleeping against him. Looking down at her, he smirked before the memory of last night returned to him. They hadn't gone all the way; they had been interrupted by her stupid friends. And here she was, laying on him, teasing him…

Instead of waking her, he began to run his fingers through her curly mess of hair, gently pulling out tangles from sleep. She looked so peaceful, and the feeling of her body lying with his was unlike any other feeling he had ever had. For once, there was something else in that moment, something more than just the desire to have sex with her. He felt happy to have her so close to him, it was so peaceful…

But of course, he pushed these thoughts away as soon as he could and the smile that had been playing at his lips turned to a frown. He studied her sleeping face, watched her eyelids flutter. He couldn't let himself feel anything else, couldn't allow himself to get hurt… After all, they could never be anything more… There were too many obstacles in the way…

And suddenly her eyes were on his and she was sitting up in the bed. "Are you upset?" She asked nervously.

Draco wasn't sure what she was referring to; last night, or the fact that she was just now in his bed? "About what?"

"Oh, you just were frowning, I wasn't sure if you wanted me here…"

"I want you here," he said too quickly, causing an internal wince at his own words. With a reassuring smile, he pulled her back down to his chest, where she once again let her head rest. His fingers unconsciously began trailing up and down her arm. "I am, however, upset about last night."

She sighed. "What could I have done? He's my best friend, I couldn't have him being suspicious."

"I get that, but you left me to go and have a conversation with _the Weasel_. What was even so important?"

Hermione bit her lip. She could simply wave his question away, saying that it was nothing, but that would likely only make him angrier. She decided to answer him truthfully. "Ron wanted another chance. I agreed to go to ball with him."

Draco scowled. "You can't be serious. You're going to get back together with the idiot?"

"I didn't say that," Hermione answered airily, enjoying the jealousy she could hear in his voice. "I agreed to accompany him to the ball. Besides, who else would take me?" She purposefully didn't look up at him, but waited to see if he elicited some sort of response at this.

He didn't. His breathing remained even as he carefully controlled his reaction to her question. What could he say? That he wanted to take her? That would just be huge mess, that would never have been pretty. Fights would break out, he would be in some pretty hot water with the other Slytherins… No, even if he wanted to, he wouldn't have asked her to the ball. Still, he hated the idea of her going with Weasley and all that _he_ might try to pull that night… He would just have to keep an eye on them…

Realizing that neither of them had said anything for a while, he prompted a new conversation. "So, when do I get to finish what I started?"

"What _we_ started," she corrected, sitting up and sliding out of the bed. He sat up and reached for her arm to pull her in and kiss her, but she evaded him smoothly. "Soon enough." Though she tried to throw him a mischievous smile, something in it looked a little disappointed.

"What's wrong?" He questioned immediately.

She threw on a confused look. "What? Nothing." She stood and began walking towards the door. "I'll see you later."

As he began to get ready for the day, he wondered just what he had said that made her avoid kissing him. Maybe it was something he had done? Whatever it was, she was sure to be over it later.

Next door, Hermione was getting dressed before she would head off to breakfast. He hadn't said anything about wanting to take her to the ball, which nearly confirmed her fear that he didn't really feel anything else but lust for her. Maybe she was right to accept Ron's invitation then. Perhaps, even as they worked on becoming friends again, it would help to get rid of her Draco problem after they were done.

~LATER THAT NIGHT~

Hermione sat in the library, pouring over the notes from the prefect meeting that had just ended. She had slipped Draco an excuse about having to see McGonagall about all of the plans that they had discussed, when really she just wanted some time alone with her head. With him there, she became all screwed up and horny and messy… She needed some time before they tried again to make sure she wasn't being too reckless. She did, after all, still need to keep her self respect and wits about her.

They had decided that the ever-popular Weird Sisters would be a good option as far as entertainment went and that the main color scheme would be gold and black, a deep contrast with the Yule Ball of her fourth year. It would also be a masquerade ball, meaning that everyone would either create or purchase their own masks. This idea had been presented by Ginny, who felt that it would give the night an ultra-romantic feel. Hermione's own stomach had twisted at this; she didn't want things with Ron to get out of hand. After all, she certainly did not want to lead him on.

Back in the dorm, Draco was attempting to do Transfiguration homework on the couch in the common room. In reality, he wasn't getting much work done. He was much too distracted and kept glancing at the entrance to the room, waiting for Hermione to come back. She had been sort of distant with him today, which caused him to worry a little. If he had said something wrong, he needed to fix it and fast. The last thing he needed was her changing her mind about sleeping with him entirely. But how could he get her back?

He had already done the flowers thing to the full extent; the common room was still proof of that. Suddenly, an idea struck him. He knew just what to do to get that romantic feeling back again.

Hermione stayed in the library until Madame Pince kicked her out, which was well into the night. She had found books to keep her busy and distracted from the boy who was probably sitting and waiting for her in the common room. Even as it was almost midnight, she dragged her feet on the way back to the room. To her relief, however, Draco appeared to have gone to bed.

Once she opened the door to her room, however, she found something that meant he had at some point been present there. On her bed lay a dark green cocktail style dress along with a handwritten note from her roommate. Eyeing the sexy dress, she unfolded the note, which he had scrawled her name on the top of.

 _Hermione,_

 _I am sorry if I upset you somehow today. I want to redo our romantic evening tomorrow night. Dinner will be served up in the common room for us, and after dinner, perhaps dessert?_

 _D_

Blood rushed involuntarily to her face when she read the note. He was putting on a romantic dinner? It was highly probable that _she_ was the intended dessert…

Still smiling to herself stupidly, Hermione changed out of her robes and slid under her covers. Merlin, Draco sure could be romantic when he wanted to be. She just wished that tomorrow night wouldn't be the last time she would ever see that side of him.

* * *

A short one this time, but the next is sure to be LONG and sexy ;) -E


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